Transform Your Life By Changing Your Mind

This guest post is written for the Toward Greater Things blog, by Victoria Davenport, TheMaineIdeas.com

You may be thinking: “It’s easier said than done, right? You can’t really change your entire life by thinking differently … or can you?” The amazingly short answer is: Yes, you can change your reality by thinking with a new perspective. I’m here to tell you how you can alter the entire course of your life by doing something you’ve done many times before: Changing your mind.

Transformative Thinking is a fancy term that just means changing the way you think about yourself. Truth: We are not who we think we are. We are also not who others think we are, and we’re also not who we THINK others think we are. It is only our perception of any situation which informs our beliefs.

• Example: When Europeans first came to the Americas, the native people did not see the ships until they had docked. Though the ships were out at sea and slowly made their way to land, the native people had no prior knowledge or experience for their brain to understand what was right in front of them. They thought the ships’ sails were clouds. That was their only prior knowledge to inform their comprehension. It causes one to pause and consider how much we are not “seeing” due to our lack of understanding.

Let us, therefore, challenge ourselves: What do you believe about yourself? Is it true? How do you know? What might be another way you can think about this?

Many of us carry an idea of who we are based on what we were told by the authorities of our earlier lives: parents, teachers, bosses, etc. If we’re continuously told we’re lazy, a loner, a letdown, the likelihood of adopting that belief of who we are is relatively high. We may harbor subconscious reactions from a similar berating as an adult when we feel anger or shame; whether they come from our lover, boss, or friend. BUT! These perceptions of ourselves which we carry are not who we really are, they are simply learned responses, and learned responses can CHANGE.

• What you can do NOW: Begin simply. Make a choice about who you are. Who do you want to be? Who do you want people to see you as? By making this choice, you have begun the process of changing how you think about yourself for the long-term. Read more on this practice here.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” Joseph Campbell

By now you may have become aware of the double entendre: We can change our minds about the way we think of something, and change our actual minds by nurturing our neuro-pathways, even tricking them out of a negative pattern of thinking. The brain is  an amazing instrument that gives us super-powers. We can completely alter our futures. We can also create NEW gray matter in our hippocampus: A physical manifestation of mere thoughts. A recent Harvard University studyfound that the brain can grow new gray matter in direct correlation with mindfulness practice (that’s what Transformative Thinking is all about). Even 3-5 minutes of mindfulness practice provides benefits that lasts ALL day. Use your new-found super-power for the greater good, and take charge of your new life today. Come visit me to learn more about giving yourself the gift of Happy. I’d love to hear from you.

Victoria Davenport is a mummy, lover of beer, travel, and all things Maine. Learn more about her and how she manifests the life she loves living at TheMaineIdeas.com

More Ideas can be found at instagram @the.maine.ideas, Twitter @themaineideas, and Pinterest  @themaineideas