Ryon Anderson, Esquire, is a Business & Mental Performance Coach working with the NFL Alumni Association, CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes to increase their mental performance, mindset, and relationships.
The quality of your mind is the quality of your life! I heard this the other day while listening to a mindfulness session. It sums up beautifully a series of thoughts I had on the topic. Our mind is a chaotic place. Random thoughts, sensory experiences, emotional bombardment. It’s truly amazing that humans ever get anything accomplished. It’s also understandable why so many people suffer from anxiety, depression, and a lack of focus. They are letting their thoughts control them instead of controlling their thoughts - in order to control their experience.
The practice of mindfulness allows one to become familiar with their thoughts, sensory experiences, and emotions without judgment and accept them for what they are. Through the practice of focusing on our thoughts, senses, emotions, and surroundings, we bring ourselves into the present moment, experience the present for what it is, and stop thinking about past mistakes and future consequences.
We gain control over our thoughts, remove the judgments of our past, and stop worrying about our future actions. We simply exist in the current moment. We learn to fully embrace everything that’s happening in the here and now. We learn to gain control of our minds and exponentially increase the quality of our lives!
5 Ways to Regain Control of Your Mind:
1. Start a mindfulness practice. Sit up straight, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Don’t worry about changing the way you breathe. Simply focus on the air coming in through your nose, the rise and fall of your chest, the expansion and/or contraction of your stomach. It doesn’t matter which one you focus on. Pick the one that works best for you and put your attention on that experience.
2. Mindfulness meditation isn’t necessarily about clearing one’s mind. It’s about experiencing your thoughts, sensations, and emotions fully in the present. It’s the nonjudgmental acceptance of your thoughts, sensations, and emotions for what they are, an experience. So while focusing on those thoughts, sensations, and emotions, make sure you are not attaching elements of your past or projecting fears of your future on those present experiences. By experiencing the present without judgment you remove the power of your past and fears for your future.
3. Create a gratitude journal. There is so much negativity that we get bombarded with on a day to day basis. The human mind evolved to pay attention to and remember negative stimuli in order to increase the odds of surviving. As a result, negative news and information sells. We pay attention to it and keep coming back for more. Make it a daily habit to write down 3 to 5 things you are grateful for in your life. They can be as small as walking to your local coffee shop to your family, friends, children. The simple act of writing what you are grateful for reminds you every day of the beauty of life, experience, and spirituality.
4. Stop consuming negative information! It’s difficult to remain positive and live in the moment when you are constantly worried about all the terrible things in the world. Stop consuming negative shit! Stop watching the news. Stop reading political articles. Stop hanging out with family or friends who never see the good in the world. Changing your mind is often as simple as changing your inputs. Consume positive information: you will have a positive mindset. Consume negative information; you will have a negative mindset. It’s as simple as that.
5. Remember, none of us are born knowing how or why we should be controlling our minds. It’s a life long process that allows one to regain control of one's thoughts, sensations, and emotions. So embrace the process of mindfulness. It is the only process that will absolutely affect every aspect of your life!
Ryon Anderson, Esquire, is a Business & Mental Performance Coach working with the NFL Alumni Association, CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes to increase their mental performance, mindset, and relationships. He is also a contributing writer for Raine Magazine. He has a masters in counseling psychology from Tarleton State University and a law degree from Texas Tech School of Law and is a member of the Texas bar. He lives in downtown Austin, Texas, with his Seeing Eye dog Ziggy and gets to spend his free time being Ziggy’s wingman.
