What we are going to talk about some very simple material. In fact it will be so simple it may even be boring. However, don’t be fooled, and don’t be put to sleep by an urge to disengage. Stay awake and focused and it will most likely be one of the most gratifying experiences of your life.
Thinking.
We do it all the time.
Automatic. Heck, we do it without even thinking. How does that sound?
Effective and conscious thinking, or “focused thinking” is very much like physical exercise. It is uncomfortable. No real physical pain, just mental effort to stay on focus. It’s a reason so many people fail and lose their race.
The dialog that goes on in your mind is endless. Even when you sleep. That dialog is made up of questions as well. Issues. Events. Feelings. Your brain is constantly trying to figure out solutions even when there isn’t a problem. It is constantly asking questions. “What do I do next?, Is that device on?, What time is it?, Is it warm in here?, Is that lint on my pants?” And on it goes, over and over. We bounce through those questions every day giving each flickering question just a nano-second of time and attention. Virtually thousands of those questions a day. Some just getting automated responses, almost like a telephone answering system. “If Joe’s not home, do this, if that doesn’t work then this may.” Questioning each one and thinking on each one as well.
The complete irony about this “thinking experience” that we live with, every second of every day, is that we can “corral” the energy of the process any time we want to and make it pay us huge dividends. We can do it at most any time and the resource is always there, and over flowing.
Most people have conditioned themselves to waste this resource and ignore its opportunities. Quit treating our minds like the clean water we have running out of the tap every day, or the light that comes on when we flip the switch. Those thoughts are taken for granted. Put those thoughts into something productive! Many of us don’t even respect our thoughts.
So, how do we harness this rich resource of gold?
This is the scary part. It is so simple. And, it’s like magic as to the results. We just ask questions and harvest the answers that we get.
There is effort involved as I mentioned earlier. The only hiccup, if you can even call it that, is that in this process we must harvest everything that comes in. We are not required to process it, but we must bring it in. I will talk more about this in a bit.
Now we will define this “process” a bit more and set up the stage for the session.
I strongly suggest that you actually plan for this first session. In order to get a good result there are a few things that you need to secure.
1) A clean environment free of clutter and debris.
2) This area needs be somewhere that you can spend at least an hour without being interrupted or distracted.
3) You could use a computer to document your activity, but there is something about using a pencil or pen and paper that seems to create a more fulfilling experience.
4) Be well rested and energized.
Stay tuned for my next post, as we dig deeper into our Mind Mopping experience….