The Ultimate Life Hack – Mastering the Mind

Mind games. From the time we’re born to when we die, we’re in a game of life with — our mind! To win the game of life, we must learn to master the mind, or at least to manage it better.

Mastering the mind enables us to enjoy life more and deal with challenges in a more stable manner. It is the ultimate life hack because it allows us to achieve more success and happiness. 

All our experiences in life are affected by the relationship we have with our mind. It determines the quality of our life. How we manage our mind can change how we experience any situation. A challenging situation won’t overwhelm us. We don’t lose the broader perspective.

Are you a slave or master of your mind?

Before you answer that question, answer a more fundamental question: Do you know that there’s a distinction between you and your mind? 

Your mind isn’t the same as you. If you aren’t the mind, then who are you? You’re the owner of the mind. The mind belongs to you. 

Our relationship with our minds can be either as slaves or as masters. 

Mind challenges

Life presents us a plethora of external challenges. However, the challenges within our minds can be the toughest. The mind has the ability to make us miserable. 

Ask the people who are grieving for a loved one. Ask individuals who are facing a terminal illness, or someone who lost their entire retirement savings. The circumstances are terrible enough, and yet the mind makes it worse by endlessly rehashing thoughts of fear, regret, should-haves and could-haves. The mind can torture us without limits. 

On the other hand, the mind has the ability to uplift us. A calm mind becomes a protective shield, giving us the strength to face severe situations. A peaceful mind can help us focus and solve problems in creative ways. It gives us fortitude and the right amount of passion. 

With a well-managed mind, we can find great success. It puts us on the path to achieving great accomplishments.

Understanding the mind

Understanding and mastering the mind is the life hack we need to embrace. The more we understand how our mind works, the more we’re able to manage it. 

It’s important to recognize that the top layer, the conscious layer of the mind, holds our thoughts. These thoughts arise nonstop from morning to night, and even in our dreams. They embed in the subconscious layers and become feelings and emotions. And these emotions form deep impressions that begin to mold our personalities and our attitude in life. 

Whether we’re cautious or risk taking, harsh or loving, every characteristic is formed as a result of thousands of thoughts. A thought that’s repeated again and again shapes our psyche.

Controlling our thoughts to control our mind is all about the thoughts we choose to think. Our thoughts mold our attitudes. For example, billionaires with bad attitudes live horrible lives while paupers with positive attitudes live happy lives. 

When a positive attitude is put into action it creates productive outcomes. 

People who are concerned only with feeding their ego or who are inflexible in their thinking are victims of their poor attitude. They fail to rise in their companies because they become a bottleneck to creativity and collaboration. Their mind has become their biggest hindrance. 

Successful people have a can-do attitude. They see opportunities where others see obstacles. While others complain, successful people find a solution. 

Attitude is a critical contributor to a fruitful career. 

Watch your mind

These practices will encourage the life hack of mastering your mind.

1. Become mind-aware. Start to watch your thoughts, your feelings, and your emotions. Watch which things affect your mood. Does an email from your boss or a colleague dampen your enthusiasm? Guard against it. Don’t open their emails first thing in the morning and ruin your productivity for the rest of the day. Learn your sensitivities and vulnerabilities. If someone or something affects you negatively, learn to guard against it. 

2. Identify what lifts you. Who encourages you? Make an effort to be around them. Feed your mind positive thoughts and feelings and watch how your mind responds over time. Feed it thoughts and experiences that align with your deeper being — aspects that make you more positive, make you more peaceful. When you can find this “zone” your mind operates at its highest level of productivity. 

3. Allow yourself to walk away. If you find yourself in an overwhelming situation, recognize that you can walk away. Tell the mind that you will work on the problem later. Take a break and come back to it once you feel more grounded. You’ll find that after the mind has had time to rest it will imagine better solutions.

4. Quiet your mind. The best way to manage the mind is to go beyond the mind with meditation. When you quiet your mind completely, when you’re able to let go of all thoughts, you experience a surge of positivity — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Your being lifts and is unconstrained by worries and other thoughts because the mind isn’t holding it back. 

Don’t let yourself be enslaved by your mind’s troublesome thoughts. Over time and with practice, you can choose better thoughts that enable you to control and manage your mind. Is it easier said than done? Yes. However, it’s the ultimate life hack you can undertake for yourself.

Written By: Ravi Kathuria

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Ravi Kathuria is founder and president of Houston Strategy Forum and of the management consulting firm, Cohegic Corporation. He is a recognized business thought leader, vibrant speaker, and executive coach. He is the author of the highly acclaimed leadership parable, How Cohesive is Your Company? His second book, Happy Soul. Hungry Mind. A Modern-Day Parable about Spirituality, is a non-religious and practical tale exploring spirituality. Ravi has made spirituality stunningly simple and accessible for all without judgement and preconditions. Learn more at happysoulhungrymind.com.