“If you control your mind, you control your world….”

I do believe that is very very true.

I remember being about ten years old and one of the older kids in the neighbourhood came sauntering up to me and said “you know what? I got all A’s this term at school and I am only using 5% of my brain power…!” I don’t know if he was looking for a round of applause or something but I do recall looking at him and saying “Are you bragging…?”

Unfortunately this guy was not only brighter than me academically, but also was bigger and stronger than me and didn’t appreciate my insubordination and I ended up getting my pocket torn off my school shirt for my efforts! (Which then resulted in detention by my teacher after break for looking untidy! A double whammy!!)

As we get older, we are made more and more aware of exactly how powerful our minds are. I would have to say though that if you are able to control your mind then you litterally can change your life.

I am very strongly of the opinion that our quality of lives, everything we achieve and generally how happy we are, comes down to what we focus on – consistently.

What you hold in our mind…

Unfortunately, with so many negative stimulents around us, it is SO easy to become negative in life. Reading the paper, watching the news, listening to gossips who only have bad things to say about others, these are all things that can negatively impact our minds.

As recent examples have shown with the tragic passing of Amy Winehouse, it blows my mind how we can look at people who are seemingly so successful, in the limelight, have the seemingly perfect relationships but then when you get close to them, you find out that they are truly not happy. This may result in them developing an addiction to anti-depresents, booze, drugs and all-sorts to try and fill the void that they feel with-in themselves.

I didn’t realise how bad this was in the environment that I was in until I was told by an HR manager at a Brokerage I worked at in the City a few years back that “40% of the people in the division were on a anti-depressents”….! I couldn’t believe it. These were all people who so many would consider to be highly successful and they were that depressed with things that they had to take medical prescriptions ?

I don’t think any of us get away from sometimes feeling less happy than what we would like. From my own experiences, I can certainly vouch for past times of my life – months, even years where I have been very unhappy in life. What someone may even call “Hitting Rock Bottom” – in more than one occasion in my life.

5 years ago was one example when I went through maybe 6 months of solid rock-bottom-ness ( … if I can use that term) . The outside may have looked okay but internally, I was a mess. A proper mess….

The funny thing is though, when we are going through these things, it’s not always easy for ourselves to see that we are going through, let alone admit it. We can’t ever see it when we are in it. In all honesty, at that time, I probably would have said I had a positive outlook on life and I probably would have believed it – but I was lying to myself.

As they say, when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up.

I stumbled upon an interview with the one of the biggest characters and most successful people in the world of Personal Development, Tony Robbins and he was talking about this. He was relaying his own experiences and actually made mention of going on a “10-day mental diet”.

For some reason, this really pricked my ears up and I thought, “Hell, I am going to give that a go!! I have absolutely nothing to lose!!”

The “10 day mental challenge” basically consisted of 10 days in a row where I would not allow myself to dwell on a negative thought for more than a minite. If I did, then I would have to start the challenge all over again, from day one!

This was possibly one of the toughest challenges that I have ever taken on! I also had to be very aware of my physiology – how my body was reacting in relation to my mood.

You start finding that in order to feel bad, you have to slump your shoulders forward, drop your head, change your breathing, frown etc. If you are happy, your body straightens up, your chin lifts, you smile….! It’s amazing how powerful this is. If you doubt this, when you see a child crying, tell them to look up to the sky and see how quickly they stop crying (PH’s parenting tip for the year!! )

This 10 day mental challenge was tough to do but what I starting finding that it became easier. When I caught myself focusing on the negative, I would have to change my focus onto something that was positive – or ever better, something I was greatful for. This had INCREDIBLE power and like anything, the more I practised it, the easier it became.

It also became very important to guage what I put in my eyes and ears. I stopped reading the newspaper, started reading and listening to positive, useful stuff and actuively started associating with more positive people.