Power of the Mind

Our brains are amazing.  It’s in control of every emotion and reaction, and therefore behaviour.  And (mostly) unconsciously, every aspect of the body’s functions, such as breathing, healing, digestion, muscle movement, sight and sound etc etc!

How do we do all this?  And, in most part, very successfully?

When we’re looking at the behaviour side, on a daily basis, our minds are bombarded with information from our senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste).  And the number of bits of information from those senses is in the millions, per second.  But we can only cope with 134 bits per second.  Out of millions!

Therefore, our minds have to work out a way of filtering the information and prioritising what it needs.   If it didn’t, our brains would grind to a halt and we’d end up not being able to do anything, as we would have no means of working out what was important and what wasn’t!

So, our minds filter out information, or develop patterns that, once learnt, don’t have to be learnt again and again.

PATTERNS

We are very good at detecting patterns – eg. seeing faces (even when none exist – in vegetables, Turin Shroud), or on a chessboard for constructing several moves ahead, or when driving a car.  This ability frees up processing power in the brain, by detecting patterns that are common in our lives.   More often these are correct and very useful to us.

Our habits are a form of pattern.

And so are cognitive biases, also known as heuristics.   These are our “rules of thumb” and are short cuts to decision making.  A lot of the time we are right.  However, sometimes we can be too quick to detect a pattern and can miss a vital piece of information or a difference in this particular situation.

One of these biases relevant to health is Confirmation bias: Looking for information/statistics that supports your existing beliefs, and rejecting data that goes against what you believe.

FILTERING

We filter out the majority of information coming to us by way of our experience, memories, beliefs and values.  If we think it’s important to us, based on these filters, we’ll keep it.  But that means there is a lot of information that we’re missing – and some of it could actually be really important!

Have you ever decided that you wanted a particular colour of car, and then you start seeing them everywhere?  That’s because you are now “filtering” for different information i.e. that car and colour.

One of our main filters is our BELIEFS.  Normally, when we believe something, we notice the things that prove to us that that belief is true and we tend to ignore, or reduce the significance of, the things that may prove otherwise. As humans, we like to be right! And this works for positive beliefs, and negative beliefs.

CHOICE

Bringing these patterns and filters into our consciousness allows us to choose whether they are helpful to or hindering our progress.  Unfortunately, most of them are subconscious, and we don’t even realise they are driving our behaviour.  Therefore, it takes effort to find them out again.

Additionally, the right beliefs about ourselves can really help drive our successes and keep us motivated.  

CHANGE

And another powerful aspect of the mind is what’s called neuroplasticity.  The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life, i.e to learn and unlearn beliefs, habits, patterns and behaviour.  And that includes every new piece of information, new hobby, new memory, and when we challenge what was once held as true and you now realise isn’t. 

Over time, we gain wisdom from the new connections we make and the ability to piece information together from a range of sources, and make new solutions to problems.

And the power to change lies only with you.  It is your choice if you want to change any self-defeating patterns and achieve your goals.  The great thing is that you are 100% responsible for the actions that create your results and, ultimately, determine whether you achieve your targets.

FILTERS TO BE AWARE OF

Here are some examples of filters that many of us do, which we thought were very useful.

• Filtering – when you only pay attention to one side of things. For example, you only remember the bad times you had in school and not the good ones. 
• Polarized thinking – when you think of things as either black or white, or good or bad. For example, there can only be good or bad people, or success or fails.
• Personalization – when you take everything too personally. For example, when you think that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you. 
• Blaming – when you hold other people accountable for your problems. For example, you blame someone else for causing you to make a bad decision. In actuality, you were the one who made the wrong call based on your own judgement. 
• Being Right – You feel the need to prove that your opinions or actions are correct. For example, you neglect other people’s perspective in an argument. 
• Should’s – when you place sets of rules on yourself. For example, you think that you should go on a diet. 
• Emotional Reading – When you use your emotions to make a decision or judgement. For example, you buy into a product because of how good it was marketed when really the product is not that good.
• Heaven’s Reward Fallacy – when you expect that all your sacrifices or hard work to pay off. For example, you think that if you work hard enough, you should get a reward.
• Overgeneralization – when you carry a problem over to other domains. When you fail a math test, you think that you are not good with anything to do with numbers.

(Source: Psychological Facts)

Knowing that these are happening, and bringing them into our awareness, allows us to consider whether they are right, or could be something to challenge and change.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

To be able to help us move forward with our health plans, taking 100% responsibility is vital.  

You are in charge of your mind and therefore your results: also known as the cause and effect equation.  Could you be on the effect side of the equation, where life controls you and you make excuses and blame others when you don‘t achieve your goals?  Or could you be on the cause side of the equation, where you take responsibility and acknowledge that your actions create your results and, ultimately, determine whether you achieve your goal?

A good example is that no-one can make you feel any emotion.  Happy, sad, frustrated, angry, positive.  Others can give you a situation, but you are in control of how you behave and react emotionally towards that situation.   And, remembering that you are in control, gives you amazing power for yourself.