Master Your Mind by Roger Seip and Robb Zbierski

Written and narrated by Leigh Martinuzzi

In a world full of distractions, a society obsessed with goal achievement and culture that froths on the notion of hustle it sometimes seems like a constant uphill battle. Personally, I sometimes feel like I am all, go, go, go, and yet getting nowhere.

Written by Roger Seip and Robb Zbierski, Master Your Mind is kind of like an antidote to all this chaos. A refreshing perspective on how we can tame the mind and enjoy the ride a little more gracefully while we still ambitiously push towards all our goals, dreams and desires.

The overriding theme of the book in efforts to find the ability to master our mind is the notion of slowing down to speed up. They provide a few examples to really highlight the science of this theory, however, inexperience I am sure many of us can find our own real-life examples of when we have slowed down a little and in return found greater results. It’s a tad zen Buddhist and yet also it is so true.

Rogger and Robb then explain what a runaway brain is. After asking the reader a series of questions you immediately relate to having your own runaway brain. Essentially a runaway brain is just that, you are in the middle of some activity and yet your brain is elsewhere. They provide a number of reasons why our brain tends to run away but basically, it is because in this modern age we are less present. We have a million and one things we want to do and we are everywhere at once and nowhere at all.

Distraction, anxiety, stress, frustration, unease and dissatisfaction has most of us in a constant chase, and with these constants in our lives it is likely we are getting nowhere fast. We need to slow down, relax, think, find space and breath, gain clarity and then act. When we are calm, planned and prepared we become better able to focus our attention on the moment. When we are in the moment and our brain is there with us we find a heightened sense of flow and resulting effectiveness in life and in everything we do.

Part 1 is all about the science behind the runaway brain and the idea of slowing down in efforts to speed up. Chapter two and three were perhaps my favourite ones. In these chapters, Robb and Roger share Vince Poscente’s theory and book about The Ant and The Elephant. It’s a great analogy of the conscious and subconscious mind and how it works. While on the conscious level we think we are in control, it doesn’t matter how clear or clever we think we are if the subconscious mind is not on the same page we may get nowhere.

The subconscious mind is said to be accountable for 97 per cent or more of everything we do. So, while our ant (consciousness) is running busily one hundred miles an hour towards greater achievement and accomplishment it is all the while running on the back of an elephant, and if the elephant is walking in the wrong direction (the subconscious mind) we will never get to where we want to go. This theory alone gave me a great sense of clarity. I understand better why sometimes despite my greatest intent and will I feel like sometimes I am going backwards. My elephant is not walking in the same direction that I wish to go.

It is not all doom and gloom. It raises the very good reason as to why we need to master communication to our subconscious mind. The authors explain that our elephant speaks in a different language and how we can better learn to speak in both languages. Robb and Rogger outline a few methods for us to do this. Visual cues work. Talking with negatives or “no” isn’t registered by the subconscious. And the subconscious mind already knows how all we need to do is show it our belief. I loved this section.

In part two, in short, snappy chapters, the authors highlight numerous strategies and tactics that we can all use in efforts to master our mind. Some new, some old and all very practical and beneficial to help us slow down to become more effective along our life’s journey. I truly enjoy books like this. Insightful, motivating and practical to everyday life. In summary, if you are looking for more energy, health and reward to sustain the journey towards everything you wish to achieve in life this book is a winner.

If this book sounds of interest you can purchase Master Your Mind here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

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