7 Habits for Highly Effective Mind Power
Mind Power Secrets - Lesson Eight
Try to develop the 7 habits outlined in this lesson. These
seven habits will ensure that your improved mind power will stay
with you for life. It is habits - both good and bad - that determine
how effective your mind power is.
(Last weeks assignment was to apply at least three of
the problem-solving techniques to real problems in your life.
Did you do it?)
Why 7 Habits?
The list (and title of this lesson) isn't just because of
the famous book about 7 habits. Numbered lists give form to ideas,
making them more practicable. Being specific helps. Goal-setters
know "$90,000" is a more influential goal than "more
money." "7 habits" is likewise more catchy than
"some good habits." Create your own mental forms -
there's a good habit to start. But develop the following seven
habits as well.
1. Take care of your body. General health is conducive
to mind power, of course, but you should also develop a few specific
habits, like eating fish (or flax seed and almonds if you're
a vegetarian) and other brain foods daily, or taking walks three
times a week.
2. Do mental exercises. A routine of weekly chess matches,
regular reading, intelligent conversation, or crossword puzzles
can exercise the brain and keep it strong. If you find music
that help you think, get in the habit of using it.
3. Question everything. Make it a habit to identify
reporter biases every time you watch the news, or to challenge
the assumptions hidden in every conversation.
4. Identify essentials. McDonald's doesn't make better
burgers, so why are they successful. Start looking at every concept,
thing and situation with the question in mind, "What is
essential here?"
5. Be a problem-solver. A fun and possibly productive
habit, is to look at everything with the thought, "How can
this be done better?" Practice a few specific problem-solving
techniques until you find yourself using them reflexively.
6. Be self-aware. It's crucial to maximum mind power
that you learn to see your own strengths and weaknesses. You
also need to know what's going on in your head, just below consciousness.
There will be more on this in the next lesson.
7. Use your knowledge. If you don't put your thoughts
into action regularly, your brain may engage in fantasy more
than productive thought. You're basically telling it that thinking
isn't relevant to the real world. Play mental games for fun and
training, but also be sure to apply the lessons learned to real
problems.
You probably noticed that each of these 7 habits is really
a collection or category of habits. Don't stress over how many
you develop or how fast. The important thing is to just keep
working on yourself.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence,
then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
How to Develop a Habit
Use notes, lists, and friends to remind you to consciously
repeat a behavior or action. Use "triggers" too. Those
are things that remind you in a given context - one in which
you'll find yourself regularly. If you do a quick meditation
each time you get in your car, for example, the car becomes your
trigger. The morning alarm, seeing the sun, a place you go to
every day - anything can be a trigger.
Basically, you need to use anything you can to remember to
do the things you want to become habit. Some psychologists say
it takes about three weeks to form a habit, which seems about
right, but we're all different. Consciously repeat an action
or behavior until it becomes automatic - and that's how long
it takes for you.
Assignment: Choose at least one behavior, action, or
thinking pattern to develop, and work on it daily this week,
and then until it "sticks."
Next Lesson: Self awareness, mind power,
and the problem of your ego.
P.S. If you haven't subscribed to this
e-course, and you want to learn the other secrets of mind power,
you can go here to subscribe: Mind
Power Secrets
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