How to Train Your Mind for Success

Our latest article on how to train your mind for growth and higher success.

Your mind is one of the most powerful tools that can help you achieve whatever you want in life. However, it works like a double-edged sword.

If you use it wisely, your mind can solve the most pressing problem and make you successful. On the contrary, if you do not know how to control or manage it well, it can go against you.

A study has discovered that we experience about 70,000 thoughts per day. And depending on what you think about, these thoughts can be constructive to lead you to achieve your goals and reach higher success in life, or they can work against you and tear you down.

For example, if you doubt your own abilities, you don’t believe in yourself, you call yourself names, and you see yourself as a failure, somehow, your outer life will show.

This is why people often say that what you think, you will become. Here’s a famous quote that precisely reflects this idea:

“Sow a thought, reap a word; sow a word, reap a deed; sow a deed, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Remember, your thoughts can influence your action. And your action will determine the results you get in life. It all begins with your thoughts.

The good news is that you can change the way you think, and ultimately, change your life. And this is exactly what you are going to discover in this article.

 

Below are the 7 methods you can use to train your mind for success.

 

1. Practice Mindfulness

In this busy world, distractions are everywhere. And one great method to train your mind for success is to be present. In other words, you need to practice mindfulness.

Many studies have discovered that being mindful has a lot of benefits, including the improvement of your overall well-being and also your mental health.

Psychotherapists have turned to mindfulness meditation as a treatment method for a number of mental illness such as stress, depression, eating disorders, chronic anxiety, etc.

Not only that, Arianna Huffington, the founder of HuffingtonPost wrote in her book, Thrive, saying that mindfulness able to improve our productivity and help us be more creative.

So how does mindfulness work? It can be pretty simple. You just need to achieve a state of alert and focused by paying attention to your thoughts without any judgment.

For example, when you are drinking a cup of coffee, pay attention to its taste, smell the aroma, feel your lips touch the cup and the flow of the coffee through your throat.

The key is to stay present so that you can focus your thoughts on what is going on. Practicing mindfulness each day can heighten your attention, improves your focus, and make you more productive.

 

2. Meditation

Meditation is very common these days and it works just like being mindful of what is happening around you.

In fact, many highly successful people like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Stiller, Ray Dalio, Jerry Seinfeld, and more, practice meditation regularly.

Bridgewater Associates, an investment management company that manages the largest fund in the world was founded by Ray Dalio. And in 2012, Dalio said in an interview at Georgetown University that meditation has opened his mind and improved his mental clarity.

This was what Dalio said, “Meditation has given me centeredness and creativity. It’s also given me peace and health.”

Therefore, if you want to improve your life and train your mind for higher success, practice meditation.

Every morning, spend about 10 to 15 minutes for meditation before you start your day. If you are new and you think that meditation is difficult, you can start small like 3 minutes and then increase it to 5 minutes after a week.

 

3. Physical Exercise

Another proven way you can train your mind is through physical exercise. There is no doubt that exercise brings a lot of benefits including both physically and mentally, but do you know that exercise can also train your mind for success?

Take running as an example. Before you hit the road and run, highly likely, you will have set a goal in your mind as to how far, how many laps, or how fast you are going to run. And when you run, you train yourself to not only keep your own promise but also aim for something.

And as you run and feel tired, notice what you tell yourself. It is your self-talks that either talk you to stop running or encourage you to go further.

Besides that, when you exercise and involved in physical activities, your brain will release endorphins that make you feel good. This is why exercise is a good stress reliever and it also improves your mood after the workout session.

Successful entrepreneur, Mark Cuban starts his day with exercise. Cuban told The Dallas Morning News that he aims for at least an hour of cardio exercise six days a week.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook also works out three times a week. This is what he said:

“Doing anything well requires energy, and you just have a lot more energy when you’re fit.”

 

4. Visualization

Do you know that our brain cannot differentiate between what is real and what is being imagined?

There was a study conducted by Dr. Biasiotto from the University of Chicago. He divided the students into 3 groups and tested each group on how many basketball free throws they could make.

Dr. Biasotto got the first group to practice free throws for an hour every day. The second group visualized themselves practicing without going through the real physical training. And the third group did nothing.

After a month, Dr. Biasotto tested the students again.

The first group who went through physical training improved their free throws by 24%. The third group did not improve at all, which was expected. However, the second group who visualized their training improved by 23% and they did it without touching a basketball at all.

Can you see how powerful visualization can be right now? This is why vision boards work.

If you want to achieve something, you must first see it in your mind. So practice visualization and see yourself achieve great success and are living the ideal life that you desire.

Visualization is a great way anyone can use to train their mind for higher success in life.

 

5. Keep Your Commitment

Whatever you say to yourself, you must keep the promise. You have to train your mind to believe in yourself by holding on to what you have committed.

For example, if you make a promise to yourself that you are going to write an article for your blog today, make sure you do. Don’t procrastinate and don’t delay it until the next day because if you do, you unconsciously tell yourself that you are someone who lacks commitment.

Your thinking can affect your actions, but your actions can also reinforce your thinking.

When you say that you are going to exercise for 30 minutes, do it. Don’t procrastinate and choose to watch TV. Keep your words and hold your commitments.

This is how you can train yourself and build a stronger character for success.

 

6. Learn Something New

If you want to improve your mental performance, learn something new regularly. When you learn or do something new, you keep your mind active and engage with it.

For example, learning how to cook a new dish can make you feel fresh. Even playing new games can be helpful in training your mind, but do not overdo it.

Not just that, when you learn something new, your mind chemistry and perceptions change. As a result, it makes you easier to adapt to the new change that you are going to face in the future.

This is why people who travel a lot have higher self-confidence and they are more adaptable to the new environment.

If you have no idea what new things to learn, don’t worry, here are some good skills to start with:

Speed reading
Basic home repairs
Arts and drawing
Basic car repairs
Organizing your house or workplace
Learn to use Photoshop
Play the guitar
Develop photography skill
Build your own garden and grow something
Learn self-defense skills like Karate
Learn to do yoga and Tai Chi
Read a new book
Learn to sing a new song

The list can go on and on. You just need to be creative and commit to learning and doing something new. Find something interesting and then do it.

 

7. Challenge Yourself to Go Out of Your Comfort Zone

Finally, to train your mind for success, you must also train yourself to go out of your comfort zone. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable.

This is the only way to grow. If you are always doing things that you are comfortable, guess what, you will always receive the same old results. And if you want a different result, you must venture out of your comfort zone and do something different.

Taking the same route to work every day or doing the same thing can make you and your mind lazy. You have to keep your mind active and energized by venturing out of your comfort zone.

More importantly, challenge yourself to do something better.

If you are a blogger and you have never wrote any article above 5,000 words, perhaps it is a good time to challenge yourself to do it now.

If you always do 30 push-ups, challenge yourself to do more. Step out of your comfort zone and do more. Go for 40 or even 50 push-ups.

When you push yourself a step further, you are growing your mental power that you can break your limit and achieve more.

It is like what Arnold Schwarzenegger said:

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

So get out of your comfort zone regularly. This is how you can train your mind for growth and higher success.

The post How to Train Your Mind for Success appeared first on Everyday Power Blog.