This post is part of "An A to Z for Success". See the side panel on the right for an index.
In this brief piece, I have no space to blast any myths concerning MIND, but I would like to emphasise that MIND is still very much a mystery, despite the ever-growing stacks of books that claim to explain it.
I was once admiring a whole wall of such books in the office of a highly respected, highly qualified medical man."Amazing," I marvelled, "that we know so much about mind."
The medical man smiled to himself and quietly confided, "About 99% of it is actually just theory."
Most of what we think we know about mind is only a model. Many of these models are extremely useful, but it is also useful to bear in mind that each model describes the mind as if it is such and such, rather than as what it actually is.
Make use of whatever model of mind is practical for you. But when you also remember that what you are using is just a theory, not necessarily fact, then you leave your mind open to the question of what mind actually is.
That ... keeping your mind open ... is perhaps the most useful thing you can do with it.
From our "A to Z of Success" viewpoint, it is especially useful to keep an open mind about how our chosen aim might be achieved.
Our how thoughts are prone to be limited: by past failures, by what others around us say, by the immediate problems we see before us... This closes our minds to new possibilities. We end up repeating a familiar pattern, one that has never worked in the past and can only dash our dreams again.
For example, suppose an item on our "wish list" involves having more money. We might start to think in terms of working more hours or taking an extra job, even one that we hate, because that's how we have earned money in the past.
Immediately we are creating obstacles: a vicious cycle of resistance ("I don't want to be working all my spare hours, it's bad enough with one job!") coupled with panic ("I just can't do this, I'll never be able to do it!")
An open mind steers round the deep resistance embedded in the seemingly obvious route. (We will look at resistance under "R".)
An open mind stays clearly focussed on the WHAT and WHY of an aim, perhaps adding, "... and I choose to do this in a way that I shall enjoy." Before long, opportunities will be noticed for all manner of more satisfying options ... if we keep our minds open to possibility.
Let's return to the idea of keeping an open mind about what mind itself is. Here's why that is important.
If you are reading this, you are on a path that will lead you through countless "stories" about what mind is thought to be and how it is thought to work. Some of those ideas will be more useful than others. However, it is not useful to get stuck in any particular story; that can block any further progress.
An open mind keeps us free to try out each story as it comes along, learn what we can from it, and then move on to the next level in our path of learning. Mind reveals itself to us in stages. Think of each model of the mind that you encounter as a stepping stone.
An open mind is a listening, learning mind, constantly expanding its own concept of itself.
For those who would like to delve deeper into a practical understanding and development of their own mind and its capabilities, I heartily recommend the long-established, well-proven Silva Method of Mind Training: simple, safe, enjoyable.
Jose Silva, was a wonderful example of an open mind. A self-taught radio engineer in the pioneer days of that technology, he also studied psychology in his free time.
Wanting to help his kids achieve better school grades, he began experimenting with ways to help them learn better, based on his self-taught knowledge. A chain of discoveries and a lifetime of research, into which he personally invested a fortune, led to the evolution of the Silva Method.
Science is slowly catching up with "proof" of what Jose Silva discovered. But his method has been effectively proven for decades, by countless people the world over who achieve remarkable results.
There is a link to the Silva website under HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in the panel on the right. There, you will find a wealth of information, and the basic introductory training is offered free.
At this step, we have looked at the importance of keeping our minds open to possibility.
Next, we take a timely look at how to side-step an insidious threat that can slam an open mind shut and strangle it.
This post is part of "An A to Z for Success". See the side panel on the right for an index.
In this brief piece, I have no space to blast any myths concerning MIND, but I would like to emphasise that MIND is still very much a mystery, despite the ever-growing stacks of books that claim to explain it.
I was once admiring a whole wall of such books in the office of a highly respected, highly qualified medical man."Amazing," I marvelled, "that we know so much about mind."
The medical man smiled to himself and quietly confided, "About 99% of it is actually just theory."
Most of what we think we know about mind is only a model. Many of these models are extremely useful, but it is also useful to bear in mind that each model describes the mind as if it is such and such, rather than as what it actually is.
Make use of whatever model of mind is practical for you. But when you also remember that what you are using is just a theory, not necessarily fact, then you leave your mind open to the question of what mind actually is.
That ... keeping your mind open ... is perhaps the most useful thing you can do with it.
*****
From our "A to Z of Success" viewpoint, it is especially useful to keep an open mind about how our chosen aim might be achieved.
Our how thoughts are prone to be limited: by past failures, by what others around us say, by the immediate problems we see before us... This closes our minds to new possibilities. We end up repeating a familiar pattern, one that has never worked in the past and can only dash our dreams again.
For example, suppose an item on our "wish list" involves having more money. We might start to think in terms of working more hours or taking an extra job, even one that we hate, because that's how we have earned money in the past.
Immediately we are creating obstacles: a vicious cycle of resistance ("I don't want to be working all my spare hours, it's bad enough with one job!") coupled with panic ("I just can't do this, I'll never be able to do it!")
An open mind steers round the deep resistance embedded in the seemingly obvious route. (We will look at resistance under "R".)
An open mind stays clearly focussed on the WHAT and WHY of an aim, perhaps adding, "... and I choose to do this in a way that I shall enjoy." Before long, opportunities will be noticed for all manner of more satisfying options ... if we keep our minds open to possibility.
*****
Let's return to the idea of keeping an open mind about what mind itself is. Here's why that is important.
If you are reading this, you are on a path that will lead you through countless "stories" about what mind is thought to be and how it is thought to work. Some of those ideas will be more useful than others. However, it is not useful to get stuck in any particular story; that can block any further progress.
An open mind keeps us free to try out each story as it comes along, learn what we can from it, and then move on to the next level in our path of learning. Mind reveals itself to us in stages. Think of each model of the mind that you encounter as a stepping stone.
An open mind is a listening, learning mind, constantly expanding its own concept of itself.
*****
For those who would like to delve deeper into a practical understanding and development of their own mind and its capabilities, I heartily recommend the long-established, well-proven Silva Method of Mind Training: simple, safe, enjoyable.
Jose Silva, was a wonderful example of an open mind. A self-taught radio engineer in the pioneer days of that technology, he also studied psychology in his free time.
Wanting to help his kids achieve better school grades, he began experimenting with ways to help them learn better, based on his self-taught knowledge. A chain of discoveries and a lifetime of research, into which he personally invested a fortune, led to the evolution of the Silva Method.
Science is slowly catching up with "proof" of what Jose Silva discovered. But his method has been effectively proven for decades, by countless people the world over who achieve remarkable results.
There is a link to the Silva website under HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in the panel on the right. There, you will find a wealth of information, and the basic introductory training is offered free.
*****
At this step, we have looked at the importance of keeping our minds open to possibility.
Next, we take a timely look at how to side-step an insidious threat that can slam an open mind shut and strangle it.
This post is part of "An A to Z for Success". See the side panel on the right for an index.