Mindset – the color of your thoughts.

Color your mind with the wrong thoughts, and soon your life will be dyed the same. – Ryan Holiday

The power of our mind is an untapped resource we, as humans, have yet to develop. Most of the time, we use our mindset to bring ourselves down and hinder our overall performance. Great philosophers, authors, therapists, doctors, athletes, Navy SEALs, and many more amazing humans have long studied the power of mindset and the ability to harness it for good.

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength” – Marcus Aurelius.

“Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.16

True Story:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are coming up on the 37th hour of our race! We can’t believe it has gone on this long. Around and around and around, he goes.

 Meet Hammy, the hamster in my head. He’s fantastic at wheel running! 

Who else has a hamster, rabbit, lobster, sloth, etc., that constantly runs in their head? We all call it something different, but once our brain switches on, it can sometimes be hard to switch off. Thought after thought after thought. Some thoughts won’t ever slow down or go away! What kind of thoughts are these? Our thoughts towards ourselves or life are harmful to many humans.

Have you ever been so deep in your thoughts, good or bad, that you can’t be present? You’re out with friends, at dinner, watching a movie, it could be any time, and you can’t stop thinking about _______ (you fill it in) your partner, ex, job, finances, future, marriage, love, death, and the list goes on. I’m going to refer to our negative thoughts in this passage, for they have the most weight and can dictate the direction and flow of our lives. We can be, and most of the time, our own worst critics! Yet we don’t hold ourselves accountable for the hateful and mean things we say to ourselves, do we?

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. “– Albert Einstein.

Take a second and think about this; be honest with yourself. All the negative stuff you think about, the negative things you say to yourself, would you put up with any of that toxicity if someone else spoke to you like that? Then don’t for a second put up with it from yourself!

Check out this graph below. Is this, or has this true for you?

Source: google images

Suppose my Hammy can run for 37 hours on one topic/idea. In that case, you bet your ass I fall into this category. I am incredibly mindful of my thoughts, feelings, and emotions! I directly address them in therapy, with God, a best friend, my partner, or my dog Mila. One way or another, I am releasing them and getting them off my chest. I’m not trying to push them down for an explosion later. I have been there and done that. It’s not fun or cool to explode on the people who love and care for you.

Change your life by changing your actions. Your actions stem from your beliefs and habits; those stem from your thoughts. – Fish

Be mindful of your thoughts. Please bring them to the forefront of your brain and acknowledge them, accept them, and feel them. Don’t just brush them off or try and “stuff them down” like a beach ball under the water. They WILL come back up. I’ve seen it so many times and have also done it. Do not allow your thoughts to control you; you are in control of your thoughts. You own them and can change them into something better, bright, and beautiful.

When negativity tries to creep back in and give your Hammy some attention, try shifting your mindset to gratuity. Shift it to something happy, bright, and full of love and joy. Don’t allow the negative thoughts to succumb to the darkness. Shift your mindset as quickly as possible, and tell yourself you won’t let that negativity into your life.

Source: Google images

Two of the best ways I have found that help me when my mind begins to spiral and Hammy begins his marathon is my faith and gratuity. I lean into God’s word. “God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path “- Psalm 119:105, and I shift my mindset to what I am grateful for. Even the simplest life aspects, I am thankful for. I thank God for the food on my table, the bed I sleep in, the roof over my head, my health, my freedom, and the ability to write this blog. Simple everyday things that make this life so beautiful. This mindset and thought process will change your heart and soul. Try it. It doesn’t happen overnight; you need to do it every day, but you will feel a shift in your soul. I promise. Focus on the light and love yourself; you only get one body, mind, spirit, and life.

 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

***Side note: You don’t have to believe in God or Jesus to take some wisdom away from their teachings, but it helps a lot more if you do. If you wish to dive down this path a little more or want to hear my story about how I came back to my faith, please reach out: fish@thefreedomprojects.com. I have a long way to go and a lot to learn and understand about Christianity. Still, I can tell you that my path, my life, my mind, body, and spirit are the best they have ever been with Jesus.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” – Philippians 4:6-8

“And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds” – Ephesians 4:23

What we do with our thoughts and how we respond to them matters. And we CAN change our thoughts… we can even change our brains. Take a look at this:

The image below is my brain.

The top row/scan is pre-treatment.

The bottom row/scan is post-treatment.

What look like giant “holes” in my brain are parts that do not receive blood flow. No, I don’t have “holes” in my brain. This is the cause of TBI and PTSD.

After one month of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT), you can see where my brain has essentially “healed.” Our brains are malleable. We can re-wire, change, heal, and “grow” our brains. If we can heal our brains, let’s fill them with positive, helpful thoughts. We should be our own biggest fans, not our own Debbie downer.

“The act of becoming a better, stronger version of you doesn’t start in the gym; it starts in your mind” – Dr. Weissman.

In competitive sports settings, elite athletes use imagery to enhance training, performance, and rehabilitation, even at the Olympic level. Athletes use these techniques to cultivate a heightened mental awareness, which has been shown to boost confidence and overall well-being and, in turn, enhance performance. Why can’t we “non-Olympians” do the same daily? Work, relationships, fears, goals, dreams, you name it, we can get in the right mindset to set ourselves up for success! Let’s GO!

Start where you are and change the ending. Today and every day you wake up still breathing is a day you can change the outcome of your life simply by changing your thoughts. Hell, don’t wait till tomorrow to change your thoughts! Start now! This very second! Let’s GO!

Use your power of thought to change your attitude and change your life.

You are a product of your training. How are you training your mind? What beliefs, values, and character traits do you believe in? What thoughts are you telling yourself day after day? They say you are what you eat, well how about you are what you repeat (in your head, that is)? Stop for a second and focus on what you tell yourself daily. Are they positive, healthy, happy, or dark, negative, angry thoughts?

“If you bend your body into a sitting position every day for a long enough period, the curvature of your spine changes. A doctor can tell from a radiograph (or an autopsy) whether someone sat at a desk for a living. If you shove your feet into tiny, narrow dress shoes each day, your feet also begin to take on that form. The same is true for our minds. Soon enough, everything you encounter will seem negative if you hold a perpetually negative outlook. Close it off, and you’ll become closed-minded. Color it with the wrong thoughts, and your life will be dyed the same. “- The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” – Romans 12:2

Here are just a few books I’ve taken notes from that touch on mindset:

THE DAILY STOIC – Ryan Holiday

• “The good work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yearning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and asset. What, then, can pollute and clog the mind’s proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions” – Epictetus
•  You don’t control the situation but what you think about it.
•  The circle of control contains just one thing: your mind!
•  “The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength” – Marcus Aurelius.
•  Your mind is in charge, not your emotions.
•  Maintain control over your mind and emotions.

FAITH FORWARD FUTURE – Chad Veach

• Your reality is created by what you focus on and how you interpret it.
•  Moving past self-hate and destructive thinking that comes after we make mistakes
•  Stop and notice how you feel.
•  When we get wrapped up in our heads, we miss out on what’s available.
•  Holding on to my bad feelings about this harms everyone around me and prevents me from enjoying life thoroughly.
•  It cannot be changed without changing our thinking
•  Use your power of thought to change your attitude and change your life
•  What you choose to focus on becomes your reality

UN-FXCK YOURSELF – Gary John Bishop

• We can determine our emotions by steering our thoughts.
•  The quality of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Therefore, guard accordingly, and ensure that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. – Marcus Aurelius
•  You are not defined by what’s inside your head. You are what you do—your actions.
•  I am not my thoughts. I am what I do.
•  No man is free who is not master of himself. – Epictetus

UNTETHERED SOUL – Michael Singer

• Thoughts and emotions get stronger the more attention you give them
•  The mind runs because you are giving it the power of your attention

LOVING WHAT IS – Byron Katie

• A thought is harmless unless we believe it
•  An untrue belief causes suffering
•  How would your life be without that thought?
•  All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his thoughts
•  As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he
•  Calmness in mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom

THE FOUR AGREEMENTS – Don Miguel Ruiz

• The way we judge ourselves is the worst judge that ever existed
•  The war against the parasite in mind.
•  The war in our mind takes discipline.

As always, thanks for reading and for your support and feedback. My goal for any of my writings is to inspire, help heal, help grow, help in any way, and shed some new light on life.

Fish