Mind - Works and States

The truth is you have control of your thoughts, reactions, and responses. And once you understand how powerful that choice can be, you'll be able to change more aspects of your life than you can imagine - Sebastian Bailey

We never do the tedious task of thinking while doing a particular kind of work. We "go through the motions". We see every single aspect from the perspective of how world shows and eventually feel that we are trapped. We are in an autopilot mode and that's the reason we never look for our decision-Never think while taking the decision, never go back in the past to correct the future decision. Never change the state of mind, we are AUTOPILOT.

And all these eventually leads us to a programmed individual - losing the skill of thinking, thinking more, thinking creatively and thinking differently.

Today, in the world of high pressure and dilemma, it’s important that our mind should work at peak potential of thinking. Not only to achieve success but also to look the world from our own perception, to develop our own vision, to develop the best problem solving skills, which will provide us the eternal satisfaction of living LIFE and Enjoying It.

Sebastian Bailey elaborates on this in Mind Gym: Achieve more by thinking differently.

We can focus internally or externally.

Internal Focus

When your focus is internal, it’s much like you’re having a conversation with yourself. Consider the voice you hear in your head as you read this book. Even while you’re reading our words, another dialogue might be asking if it’s worth continuing to read this chapter or if now is the time to have a cup of coffee.… When your focus is internal, you are conscious of the fact that you are thinking; you can hear and pay attention to the running commentary in your head.

External Focus

Where are you right now? What’s happening? What noises do you hear? Who is close to you? External focus is an awareness of the things outside your own head. And when you focus in this way, you aren’t aware of what you’re thinking. Your attention is on what is going on, not on what you think about it, how to interpret it, or whether it could have an impact on your future.

When you are really caught up in something, whether it’s the thrill of a football game or the latest twist in your favorite reality show, you are externally focused. And when you find yourself thinking, Why am I wasting time watching this ridiculous reality show? you have returned to an internal focus.

Where should your focus be?

Your mind is always occupied in one of two places: what is going on inside your head or what is going on outside your head. It is impossible to focus at the same time on both what’s internal and what’s external, just as it is to focus on neither. What is possible, though, is to switch between them, which, with a little mental discipline, you can do pretty much whenever you want.

The truth is we need to alternate between being internally focused and being externally focused.

The Four States of Mind

When you add up the types of focus (Internal or External) and with the ways they help us (helpful and harmful) you get four distinct states of mind: Autopilot, critical, thinking, and engaged.

We always need to be in helpful states: And we want to flip between Thinking and Engaged.

Thinking will help us, to hear the inner voice, understand the ideal perception of successful people and to develop our own.

Engaged state will give us the optimal experience, the state of FLOW