A great man once said “strive to master your mind rather than allowing your mind master you”.
So what did he mean by this statement?
Basically, he realised that as human beings we all possess two types of mind.
Firstly we have a mind that tries to keep us small and powerless, and that constantly whispers all sorts of nonsense to us, pretty much all day long.
That part of our mind that tells us that we are useless, that we shouldn’t even bother. Its that part of ourselves that keeps making us give in, instead of doing great things.
Then we have another part of our mind that is the complete opposite. It’s that part of ourselves that we might call our higher self, or our source of inner wisdom.
Unfortunately, since we are so dominated by our inner negativity most of the time, it’s very hard to hear that quiet inner voice; which is the source of all wisdom.
We all have this part of ourselves, and it is extremely important that we make every effort we can to connect with that part of ourselves.
We need to learn how to listen to this part of ourselves, because it is the part of our mind that keeps us moving forwards, and the part of us that can enable us to live a fully happy and fulfilled life.
We all have this source of inexhaustible wisdom within ourselves, but for most of us connecting with it is not a common experience.
I’m absolutely convinced that the battle within us…the battle between light and dark, positivity and negativity or even you might say good and evil is a continual struggle that never ends.
Whether we allow ourselves to keep our life small and powerless and achieve very little during our lifetime or whether we discover this immense powerhouse within us, is totally dependent on whether or not we win or lose over the negative voice that we all have within us.
And it’s amazing how this negative voice; being so subtle controls our lives to a huge extent.
Because it constantly whispers to us all sorts of things that hold us back, it’s no wonder that most people never really live lives where they totally transform their lives and make a big difference in society.
I know I’ve said this in several episodes before, but I honestly believe that the difference between a person who transforms society and someone who achieves very little during their lifetime is completely dependent on whether or not we manage to overcome this negative voice within us and do so continuously.
Its only when we start to see this negativity for what it is, and counteract its influence by connecting with our higher self and inner wisdom, that we can we really take full control over our lives and live a lifetime of continual successes and happiness.
We really cannot become truly happy and fulfilled, unless we become acutely aware of this inner battle that takes place within us all of the time.
But becoming aware of isn’t enough on its own. We also need to learn how to connect with the greater part of ourselves far more potently, so that our negative inner voice is to at least some extent drowned out by the wisdom that bubbles up from within our lives.
So you may ask, how can we possibly overcome this negative force that lies within us?
Well fortunately as I say we all possess an incredibly potent positive force, that really in many ways is our natural state of being. The only thing that stops it from being revealed all the time is the fact that we allow our negative self the advantage most of the time.
For example, fear is something that we do not possess when we come into this world as a baby. We learn fear from our parents, our siblings and our misfortunes during our life.
Likewise, as we grow up from childhood into adulthood we each accumulate vast number of memories from experiences where we have suffered in all sorts of different ways.
Gradually as we grow up, our belief about what is possible starts to shrink, and we start to settle for second-best or even third best or even worse.
Ask any child what they want to be and they grow up, and in most cases they will excitedly tell you that they are going to be a scientist, or a doctor or a rock star or a famous football player.
Unfortunately, by the time most children reach the late teens or mid twenties they have had so many painful experiences, that keeping up such a vision for their lives often becomes impossible.
A long time ago when I was 12 years old I went to boarding school for a few years. And I remember getting guitar lessons once a week with two other guys.
Now the amazing thing is one of these guys who was a couple of years older than me was convinced that some day he was going to be a world-famous rock star.
To be honest, I don’t think anyone believed him, but the amazing thing is that he kept his vision and determination steadfast, despite what other people may have thought.
Only a few years later, he became the bass guitarist of one of the world’s most famous rock groups; U2.
This is what keeping our determination alive and keeping ourselves empowered can do for us.
We really can overcome this negative voice that constantly tries to keep us small and powerless and that continually tries to sabotage our dreams.
There are many ways of doing this, but one of these is to use the power of affirmations. Affirmations are simply short positive statements that we make to ourselves aloud each day.
Affirmations are a very powerful way of reprogramming our subconscious mind for success rather than failure.
Another great way is to use the power self hypnosis. Self hypnosis can help us to quickly overcome all sorts of self-limiting beliefs that we may have about ourselves so that we literally start with a clean slate.
Another very important way of overcoming this negative part of ourselves is to develop a burning desire for something big and worthwhile for our lives.
Having a burning desire and putting energy and focus into that desire every day, and also taking action steps towards achievement, enables us to move very far towards achieving our hearts desire.
Also never giving into temporary failure is a vital component in becoming stronger than the negative voice that assails us continually.
You only have to look at the lives of a few highly successful people to quickly realise that most of them have failed many times, but their persistence is what got them through and that this was the deciding factor in their ultimate great success.
Another way of connecting powerfully with our own inner wisdom is to learn how to meditate. There has been a massive amount of research into the effects of meditation on our mind and our body.
It’s an absolute fact that meditation can lower our blood pressure, enable us to relax deeply, allow us to recharge and it can also enable us to tap in powerfully to the inner wisdom that we all possess deep within our lives.
So the are several ways of learning how to master our minds rather than allowing our minds to master us.
To master our mind we need to connect with our higher self in any way that we can. When we draw forth energy and vitality and wisdom, what happens is; our negative inner voice becomes quieter.
However it is very important realise it never ever goes away completely. You see there is purpose to everything in the universe. Without negativity we could not grow fully as human beings.
So it’s the battle between the light and dark, or positive and negative forces within us that gives rise to life itself.
It’s not possible to live in this world and only experience positivity all the time. If we did we would not grow spiritually as human beings.
Difficulty and hardship almost force us to grow. Very few of us really grow quickly when everything is blissfully tranquil and we have almost no challenges.
I learnt this many years ago when I was a hospice volunteer for several years. I had a very successful business which allowed me to work only a day and a half a week and it gave me a very high income.
So what I did it was I in did voluntary work most days of the week and I really believe that I helped a lot of people. I really enjoyed doing this work as a hospice volunteer, but it was a period of my life where I had very few real challenges.
Even though I created value for people, I wasn’t really growing within myself in the way I was capable of.
Several years later, when I lost every single cent in the world and I couldn’t provide food for my wife and baby son that had just been born, my learning and growth started at a faster rate than ever before.
It was an incredibly painful experience and one that I will never forget. However I am so grateful to those experiences because I have learnt so much about life, human beings, and also discovered far more of the power that I have within myself.
I was an awful experience, but I’m deeply grateful for it.
At this point you may ask if I myself have managed to master my own mind. Well all I can say is that most of the time I do manage to overcome this negative inner resistance that tries to sabotage everything that I do.
But, because this battle within us takes place continuously and because it will never go away, there are some days I don’t manage to completely win.
However, most of the time I do manage to tip the balance between positivity and negativity. What’s most important is how often we win over our negative voice.
As I say, it will never completely go away and anyone who believes that it will; is definitely not seeing things as they really are.
A strong positive thought is 10 times more powerful than the stream of negative thoughts that go through our mind.
Whichever we allow to dominate, will ultimately determine how our lives will turn out.
So, I hope that this gives you a better understanding of the nature of negativity.
It’s also important to understand that we have great capacity as human beings to overcome our suffering. Or if we wish, we can just allow ourselves to wallow in it and nothing really changes when we do this.
A certain amount of suffering is great for growth, but too much suffering is just a waste. So it’s important to not prolong your suffering when things are really rough, and to move yourself forward in a powerful new direction as quickly as you can.
So please try to do your utmost from this point forward to master your own mind rather than allowing it to master you.
I’m certain you can do this. It will take effort and persistence and lots of determination but the benefits far outweigh the costs.
By overcoming your negative inner voice you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.
However on the other hand if you continue to allow negativity to hold you back in so many different ways, then I’m afraid to say that nothing much will ever change for you.
So please make the choice right here and right now to draw forth this wisdom from within your life and to start bullying that negative voice that has tried to control you for many years.
You will be delighted that you made this decision, and your life will progress in all sorts of wonderful new ways; that at this point you may not even be able to imagine.
So, win over yourself today and every day!
