I so love life, always interesting when out of the blue I find myself crossing paths with people I haven't seen for sometime and all in a succession of a few days. It's fascinating, hearing each story of what's been happening since we last saw each other.
And funnily enough, there are no coincidences as each conversation reveals some progress, be it big or small since the last chat, with relevance through their experience to me.
One particular encounter, resulted in a serious work out for me. It took me into what I call my ''mind gym'' in the hours that followed. One thing I know for sure is the mental gymnastics, isn't a core strength nor one I want to become great at. Like gymnastics at school I never applied myself to the physical aspect of the sport instead choosing to shoot hoops instead!
In the gym of my mind, the monkey was running amok and had me thinking ...who owns this?
Let it be known I'm not fussed on being stuck in the past or replaying old movies that were never in line to win an award. Instead choosing to invest to gain knowledge with tools on hand, then surround myself with the people who support me, to be the best version of me. However I know full well I'm human too.
We understand to transform our life and in any aspect it simply requires a change to the way we think.
A few tell tale signs of the monkey mind.
- I'm not progressing fast enough
- I feel misunderstood
- I'm running out of time
- I'm not getting enough of what I truly want
- Why me, Why not me
- I'm stuck in a rut
“You are not alone ”
Lets face it, the pressure to succeed at work and in our personal lives is stronger today than ever.To thrive in our busy world, our mind needs to be able to work to its full potential.
But unless we train it, the mind stays on autopilot, stuck in unhealthy thought patterns that can lead to self-sabotaging habits and behaviours damaging relationships, working in unproductive ways with others.
Just as we exercise our body to stay in shape, we too must exercise our mind to get the most out of it.
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. ”
On the yoga mat this week, and after a dose of monkey mind antics in gym of my mind, I had a flash of nonsense. It was a vision of me cartwheeling on the beach, hard sand at low tide. Considering what I shared earlier about my disregard for school gymnastics this is very funny.This thought has me smiling on the inside with I a sense of lightness and wonder, ever so playful and pure in thought.
If you find yourself workshopping a situation over and over and over with no one other than yourself, do yourself a favour, blow the whistle, call time out!
I have a series of Time Out Options...yoga, taking a drive, writing, golf, hanging in my hammock, a beach walk, more writing, OR a dose of personal development. Sometimes it's a track other times it can be library that's required. I don't consider these as distractions more so refocusing onmy own progress.
What I've come to realise is being stuck on anything has a ripple effect across every other area of my life and not what I have on order for myself.
Developing the playful approach to life is my personal challenge and alternative to the monkey mind. I dare you to join me to become playful in real time over monkey mind business.
Reveal how you can transform any aspect of your life, by checking out 5 Steps.
