Failure should be reinterpreted as this –

Failure is “Feedback”.

When you try in a given way you get given results.

The world is giving you feedback.

It’s advice. 

It’s telling you what to do next. 

It’s part of a prescription.

Take the feedback, and try again – smarter and better this time.

You want change, but do you want to change?

You did this. 

You are responsible for your situation.

If you don’t like it, you can change it.

But YOU have to change.

Ready, or not?

Overfilling your time

Not enough time?

It’s because you said yes too much.

Whatever you say “yes” to, you say “no” to something else.

Some “yeses” get you into long-term commitments with hundreds or thousands of meetings, emails, decisions, and other things to do.

You have the time, just don’t overfill it.

More of what matters, less of what doesn’t.

Make your life better by substitution.

Amplify what matters.  Silence, ignore, or leave behind what doesn’t.

What matters to you now?

What doesn’t anymore?

Behave that way.

Don’t be afraid to get bored

Nothingness and silence is a great place for new thoughts and new beginnings.

Don’t suspend happiness

Three happy traps-

Postponing happiness – “I’ll be happy when…”

Trying to make others happy – Living a life someone else designed for you

Comparing yourself to others.

Happiness is derived from the inside, not the outside.

Be grateful.. say “I get to do this”.

Life is made up of days, and days are made up of hours.  That’s it.

There is only now.

Enjoy the journey.

Conquest of Mind Part 5. Life becomes your training ground.

This week, we have been looking at the ideas presented in the book Conquest of Mind, by Eknath Easwaran.

Here is the final idea – 

Life becomes your training ground.  Every challenge, delay, and irritation becomes an opportunity to grow in patience, love, and clarity.

Ideas are great – but they have to be put into practice when you come in contact with daily life to make any difference.

When things don’t go your way, that is the moment to stop and not think about it in your habitual way – to seize control of your mental response and control your mind to eliminate the suffering, great or small, you might normally experience from your reaction to what happens.  A key person is late for your important meeting?  Someone cuts you off in traffic?  The kids are sick when you had planned a big day?  It rains on the day of your big picnic?  You get laid off?  Anything…..take control of your mind and use it for good.  It is a tool, it is not your identity.

Parting thought – 

Freedom isn’t found in controlling your life – it’s found by mastering your mind.

Conquest of Mind – Part 4. Emotions can be transformed.

Emotions can be transformed.  Anger, fear, and craving lose their grip when you face them with awareness and steady practice.

Instead of saying “I am angry,” you say “I feel anger”.  That’s different.  Then you can look at it as separate from you and gain power over it.

You could ask “Why do I feel anger?”  “What is it trying to tell me?”  “What are my choices and what results would each lead to?”

“What can be good about this?”  “What is the lesson?”  “How can this make me better?”  “If this is out of my control, I can choose to let it go.”

People that let emotions rule their behavior are out of control and undisciplined.  We all have emotions.  Transforming them into something productive or at least not allowing negative ones to hurt you is important if you are to take control and live your best life.

Conquest of Mind – Part 3. Meditation is mental training.

Meditation is mental training.  Just like the body needs exercise, the mind needs daily discipline to become calm, strong and clear.  

The mind needs to learn and study each day.  It needs some silence each day to process open files and to get centered.  It needs clear instructions from you about what you want.  It can deliver good or bad without preference – it just needs clear repeated instructions each day.

Are you using your mind like this?

Conquest of Mind – part 2. Change begins with attention

Change begins with attention.  Where your attention goes, energy flows.

We have a choice on what to pay attention to.  We can focus on the negative, or the positive. 

If we think of productive steps toward our big goal, we find ourselves taking action toward it.  If we think of how difficult it is, we suffer under the idea.

We can think of how terrible some people are and suffer from the thought (it is probably not true anyway), or we can think about quality people that we want to be around – and we will pay attention to them, hang around with them and have quality time we enjoy.

What we pay attention to is a choice – and our energy will go there.  All action is preceeded by thought.  And all results come from action.

Tomorrow part 3!