Transforming Mind

Whenever I do coaching for people who are appearing in some exams I always ask them a question “So what do you think you could get in exam/test etc”. This is an obvious question and the answer immediately shows what the person is aiming for. If someone says that he thinks that he will get a “b” then he is aiming for nothing more than a grade ‘B’. Similarly, when a person replies that he will get an ‘a’ then he certainly is aiming for a grade ‘A’. Do you see how a simple answer reveals so much about what you are making out of your life? 

What do you feel is the most powerful tool that we possess to bring changes in our lives? Yes, you have guessed it right. It is our mind. My coach used to say ‘whatever shit you are in is your own mind’s creation’. That used to annoy me. Do you think that I chose to be in this traffic jam or work in this crappy atmosphere? I did not want to take any blame for what my life looked like. It was always either the circumstances or the other people who were responsible for my miseries. Slowly I realised that by blaming others I was also giving the reins of my life to others and by not taking the responsibility I was denying myself of the possibility of ‘Choice’. Only by taking responsibility I could have this possibility to choose. Choose things that will give me happiness, chose to be my own master and transform my life to whatever way I want it to be. 

So, the first step in transformation is accepting the responsibility of your choices in the past. Acceptance also brings choice. Suddenly you realise that you have options to choose from. That you are capable of much more. Choice brings the sense of power. You have the power to choose what you want in life. So for example when you accept that your crappy job is because you didn’t upgrade your skills for a better job at an appropriate time then and only then, you realise that you do have the choice to upgrade even now or quit or do something to make it more bearable. 

The second step is to know what we want. How many of us know what is it that we want? Whenever I ask people what do they want in life, they usually come up with a very generic answer like I want to be happy. And they start to fumble when I ask them what is their definition of happiness. Life can get so busy that we don’t have time to really think about what we want out of life. Unless we know what do we want from life we wouldn’t be able to focus our energies towards it. In fact, scattered energies will bring scattered results. 

So, find out what you want from your life? What are your priorities, what excites and interests you? What is it that you enjoy doing and why? Find out what motivates you to do certain things and what makes you weary?  The best way to bring clarity as to what you want is to write down your wants and desires and then start putting a timeline in front of each item of the list. Writing down your goals or wishes gives energy to your own conviction. It also gives you the determination to achieve and succeed what you want in life. When Jim Carry was struggling, he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 for “Acting Services Rendered,” which he dated for Thanksgiving 1995. Just before that date, he hit his payday with Dumb and Dumber. So writing things down makes you focus on your plans and constant review of these written plans always pushes your mind to find ways to achieve them.

The third step would be to believe in yourself. Your beliefs have made you what you are today. If you believe that you are an achiever then your mind will automatically start looking for ways for you to achieve things. Similarly, if you think that you are a loser then, of course, you will never be able to get what you want in life. So believe in yourself and go for it. There are so many stories where people have achieved great feats despite their physical disabilities. One of the latest in this long list is Arunima Singh. Does that name ring a bell? Yes, she is the same girl who lost her leg in a freak incident and yet the first thing that she decides after knowing about losing her leg is that she would climb Mt. Everest. And she did… what was it that made her do it. It was her own belief in her goal. In fact when she went to Mrs Bachendri pal who is the first Indian lady to climb Everest. Mrs Bachendri Pal told her that "if you have decided to climb Everest and you believe in yourself then mentally you have already climbed it. Now we only need to put a date on it". So, friends, this is the power of belief. Believing in yourself comes from knowing what you are really capable of doing. You may not succeed all the time but your belief will make you persevere until you get success.

The fourth and final step in transforming yourself comes from taking action. However, taking action not only means that you work hard on your strategies and plans. It also means changing your entire mindset. To be a billionaire, one should know what kind of life billionaires live and what can be the perks and challenges of such a life. Before becoming the owner of renowned big bazaar chain Mr Kishore Biyani was just a common youth who was trying various ways to establish a company. However, he decided that to feel like an affluent person he has to act like one even if it is once a month.  Hence he used to save money to go and have a cup of coffee in the famous Taj Hotel of Mumbai just to act and feel like a big businessman. This was not a pompous act. It was his way to convince his mind that he was indeed a big businessman and putting all his energies towards achieving what he had set out for. 

We are what we think and hence the first thing to change your life is to change your mindset. The mind is the most powerful tool that you have in this life. If you don’t let it infest with negativity and fear it will be your friend and will guide you to the path of success and fulfilment. Negative thoughts are like a virus to corrupt the most miraculous computer that we know of. Our mind. So feel positive and go for it…..