Are you easily frustrated by even the smallest mistakes? Do you have anger management problems? Do you find managing work and personal life rather stressful?
An essential element in personality development is being able to control anything that goes into your mind- your thoughts and ideas are very important because whatever your mind conceives will dictate your actions and behaviors.
The mind is a very delicate matter; it can grasp just about anything and everything. Try to keep your mind blank for a few seconds and you will find that it is not the easiest thing to do. It takes discipline, focus, and effort. At the same time, it also takes lots of practice to be able to effectively achieve mind control.
We are going to help you control your mind through three very easy methods. These are: commitment, repetition, and meditation.
Commitment
The first step towards controlling your mind is to really make a conscious decision to stop negative thoughts. The problem that most people face is that we find it really hard to break free of thought patterns and old habits that we would even go as far as saying that we actually take pleasure in inviting these thoughts in, though unconsciously. In any case, we need to commit ourselves to really stop this from happening. We should be aware of the adverse outcomes of these thoughts so that we will not allow them to enter.
Repetition
While we cannot always sift through every thought and take out the bad from the good, we can certainly do this one step at a time. As the adage goes, “repetition is the mother of all skills” which means that if everyday for the next 30 days, we spend an hour to consciously stop negative thoughts from coming in, then it will just naturally be embedded in our mind to do this every time an undesirable idea or thought is made.
Meditation
Buddhism has introduced mankind to meditation, which is a form of mental exercise that allows one to fully concentrate on what is going on around him. Although evidence shows that meditation has been practiced since the Neanderthal era, it became more acknowledged for the last 5,000 years.
There are many ways to do meditation; the main object is to create mental discipline in whatever you do. The following are some of the meditation techniques you can use:
1. Basic Meditation
This is something anyone can do. All you need is a small space for you to sit comfortably, preferably in a quiet location. Close your eyes and “observe” your thoughts. Whatever thoughts enter your mind, all you have to do is to let them go.
2. Focused Meditation
While the first type of meditation allows any and every thought to come in, focused meditation requires you to concentrate on a particular thought or idea. You can use any of your five senses to do this. For example, you can use visual by staring at an object; you can use auditory by listening to the swaying of the leaves; and so on.
3. Activity-Based Meditation
This meditation technique allows you to engage in an activity that requires repetition. These repetitive activities like gardening, paper cutting, or yoga will help you quiet your mind, allowing your brain to shift.
4. Spiritual Meditation
Prayer is a good example of spiritual meditation; though it does not have to be religious and is certainly not specific to any kind of religion. People can practice this by asking spiritual guidance, wherein God ‘speaks’ and we ‘listen.’ In this type of meditation, we can start by asking a particular question, and we clear our mind so that we can ‘listen’ to the answer.
These three methods are very effective in our goal to be able to control our mind. By committing ourselves to this undertaking, we are taking a step towards achieving our goal. By making an effort to practice on a regular basis, we are working towards making it a habit. And lastly, by knowing the ways to meditate, we are constantly engaging in mental discipline that will seal our success in controlling our mind. And when we know how to control our mind, developing our personality can be so much easier.
