I left yesterday’s blog with two considerations that were too big to go into at the time. Today, let’s explore the idea of “mental outlook.” Mental outlook is one of my seven aspects that create our quality of life. It is comprised of all aspects of what goes on in our mind and is influenced by our approach spiritually, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and our personal development or growth curve.
This is absolutely something we have major control over if we dedicate ourselves to it. The three pound computer in our head, called our brain, needs constant purposeful work. It is constantly receiving input from the environment. We can choose to allow it to receive whatever the world puts into it, or we can decide what we want to receive (mostly). As I have said before, I use to be someone who saw the world out of the limiting belief that things aren’t going to work out for me, that I am the way I am, and that isn’t good! That bad stuff always happens to me, I never get a break, and that I am just plain unlucky. Wow, I am feeling a little depressed just writing this…because it is going into my brain!!!
As you know, my picture of the world is totally different now. So how did I get here and how can you get to a new state of mental outlook too? It starts with purposeful effort. You have to dedicate a little time everyday to working on this part of you. Physical exercise feeds your brain oxygen, and makes your body feel good. When your body feels good..you tend to feel better emotionally. The same goes for your nutrition. Good nutrients feed the brain what it needs to function right.
Since we all grow up with tons of negative input from the environment around us, from the media, to the people in our lives, we next have to make a conscious choice to limit our exposure to the wrong input. I limit my exposure to negative people and I am careful as to what I listen to, watch, and read.
On a daily basis, I started reading 15 minutes per day over 20 years ago. It has been so impactful, that now I invest 45 minutes per day in this. You may think that you don’t have time to read this much…start with 15 minutes like I did. Would you invest 15 minutes a day into something that would make every corner of your life better each day? I read the bible everyday, several different personal and professional development books, as well as some affirmation cards I wrote 20 years ago…that I still read everyday! Read whatever you want, just make sure it is oriented towards helping you become better in how you see the incredible world around you.
The process will take time. You cannot undo in 20 minutes what took 20 years to develop. It will take a slow accumulation of positive input to overcome the years of negative input as well as the continued negative input you will receive from the world around you. But you CAN do it. This is something you have total choice in and will change your life to any degree you want it to.
This will help you come to a place where you look at any “life happens” situation and quickly move into the “what’s good about this?” perspective. Think about this…you might not like the thing that is happening, but do you really know what role it will play in the future outcomes of your life? The answer is no. Many of the things in my past that I thought were “bad” ended up being important parts of some of the “good” things I experienced later. Of course even the good things don’t tell us what role they are playing either…we just happen to like them at the moment they occur.
Life is full of change. This is the only constant! We have to work on ourselves so that we are able to see the positive potential that each change brings.
