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Most people are shocked when they
learn that every thought or image has
both short-term and long term consequences.
We all know from experience and observation
that physical training affects
physical health and can be a powerful
way to reduce stress. Now, it has been proved
that mental training is at least as effective. Researchers have been
able to ascertain that moving one finger and visualising the same move
activates the same neurological circuits.
So thinking and doing are equally powerful in the brain. New
thoughts and images can literally stimulate new pathways in the brain (called
dendritic growth). Thoughts and images that are constantly repeated become
stronger, more readily available, and have the greatest impact on behavior.
For example, the thoughts and images you
repeat about your job strengthen those neurological connections, just like
you can wear a path through grass by repeatedly walking the same route. In a
real sense, you are unknowingly using mental training principles to strengthen
your response to your job. If you hope to enjoy your work but are regularly
thinking negatively about it, your pattern of expending mental energy will
have potentially catastrophic effects.
Mental
training "rewires" the brain; it actually creates adaptations and
structural changes in the brain and
central nervous system. Some neurological connections are strengthened, others
are replaced with completely new ones, and still others are simply
reconditioned. Here are the top techniques to
create mental fitness:
*
Controlling negative thinking - negativity is normal, indeed a requisite, in
the professional world. Yet everything from mood state to belief systems and
from productivity levels to personal happiness can be adversely affected by
negative thinking. It is therefore important to find ways to control it.
*
Desensitizing fears - procrastination is usually due to interfering and
troublesome emotional responses (usually fear). Combining relaxation
techniques with nonthreatening images associated with the fearsome situation
can recondition the fear response. This will also work with one-cause phobias
such as spider phobias but not with multiple-cause phobias such as
claustrophobia or agoraphobia.
*
Writing - can release negative thinking and create new thinking scripts. A
classic study showed that writing in a personal journal about conflicts
results in less illness and fewer visits to the doctor.
Although the actual writing itself may be somewhat painful and
uncomfortable, the long-term results of writing in a way that leads to
insights and a new, more effective script for keeping positive juices flowing
will invariably be less distress and improved health.
*
Changing beliefs through affirmations - a simplistic procedure of replacing a
negative thought with the opposite,
positive statement. For example: I hate my boss is replaced with I admire my
boss. This can be very helpful, although
we usually revert under stress. Affirmations usually work best when replacing
a neutral thought with a more helpful, positive one or when repeating the
affirmation whilst under the same stress that usually produces the negative
thought (quite a difficult feat to perform - try it sometime).
*
Preparing with mental rehearsal - the brain uses the same pathways to trigger
an emotion as it does to respond to one. Emotions are reactive to thoughts,
that is, our ingrained attitudes and beliefs create our emotions - both
positive and negative. Just as visualising moving your fingers in a specific
sequence strengthens the neuromotor circuits that are involved in real
physical practice, visualizing how you
want to respond to a future event, such as an interview or meeting,
strengthens the probability that those responses will actually happen.
*
Practicing mental focus - calmness and focus both reflect specific patterns of
neurological arousal. Anything that strengthens the capacity for this, such
as focusing your attention on walking as you walk or when you become
completely absorbed in drafting a document, can achieve the same results.
*
Practicing positive thinking - top athletes,
for example, fully understand that a positive and optimistic view of
things is essential for success but that it can never distort the real truth
about what's happening. Positive thinking alone is important, but inadequate.
It is necessary to be able to think critically without becoming negative. This
is the ability to see the truth, warts and all, and to critically analyse a
situation but within a positive context. Because
of the way the brain works, the more negatively you think, the more
negative you become. Conversely, inhibiting negative thinking and behaviour
automatically increases positivity.
One of the most powerful mental training
strategies identified is the daily mental preparation, taking no more than ten
minutes daily. It is one of the most valuable and effective technique,
provided it is given high enough priority that it becomes a daily ritual, like
brushing your teeth. The most effective way is to be quiet and alone, making
sure you have a present focus (to do that you merely have to shift your
attention to anything external or anything below your neck). Briefly consider
the day's challenges and then connect them to your basic beliefs and
values,
your principles. Without meaning, the daily grind remains just that.
Finally, mentally and emotionally rehearse any
scheduled performances. Do a practice run-through, anticipate potential
trouble spots and see yourself responding with precision and poise. Anticipate
difficulties and solve them as though they were happening right there and
then. Recruit as many senses as possible and remember that your brain cannot
distinguish something vividly imagined from something actually
happening. Without question this is one of the most powerful tools discovered
for accelerating mental fitness.
Mental training for top athletes is considered just as physical as any
physical training they do. Just as no Olympic athlete would skimp physical
training, they would not dream of ignoring mental fitness training. Isn't it
time for this knowledge to become as widely adopted in the professional world?
Click here to Explore Your Belief Systems Click here for the Six-Step Change Model for changing your thoughts and increasing your happiness Click here for the ABC Change Model for learning optimism
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