Mental Hygiene (Guest Blog)

Science has now proven that we can all be the manager and creator of our own lives, believe me when I tell you that I am walking proof, and because I have walked the walk, I am passionate in helping others learn how to put mental hygiene into practice.

Your mind can be your most powerful asset, it can move you towards the life you really want. But beware, the mind needs to be trained and controlled otherwise it will eventually run you, without you even realising, in fact your sub-conscious is driving you today, so learning to be mentally hygienic is the most important thing you can do to keep yourself holistically healthy. You see, your mind is so powerful, it permeates every cell of your body, not just your brain cells, the mind has tremendous power over ALL the bodily systems.

So what is mental hygiene I hear some of you say.

Well, your mind is always listening to every word you say and every thought you think, habits of thought, words and actions become a blueprint that your mind and body turns into your reality, these become a strong force within you and your life will become what consistently matches your thinking.

This is GREAT NEWS! If you want more from your life, if you want to make a change, YOU CAN! With good mental hygiene you can change your own blueprint, being fully aware of the words you say, the thoughts you think and the images you make in your head is the most important step to practicing good clean mental hygiene.

Read the following scenario and be honest with yourself in how you think you would feel and what you would say to yourself about a similar situation:

Scenario

A man goes on a blind date, the first date he has gone on for a long time. His date shows up and after just 10 minutes of talking, his date stands up and says “this isn’t for me, I’m leaving goodbye”

The man left in the restaurant feels sick and deflated, so he speaks to his best friend who tells him “well, what do you expect, you’re overweight, you’ve lost most of your hair, you’ve nothing interesting to say, so why on earth would anybody want to date you! You should give up and stay lonely to avoid the embarrassment you hopeless idiot”

What kind of a friend would talk to you like that?

Well he was actually talking to himself, these are the messages he thought in his head as to why his date left so abruptly. We all do this at times, some more than others, we are so hard on ourselves, remember the words, thoughts and images we make are stored in our minds, giving us more of it, because our minds think that what we say and think is actually what we want.

How many times have you made a mistake, or lost your keys and called yourself names for being so stupid? We do it without thinking. So now, be kind to yourself and stop it! If you begin calling yourself something derogatory, change it to “silly billy” it sounds a bit crazy, but it will make a big difference. Be kinder to yourself, talk to yourself the same way you would to your best friend (be your own best friend)

The date could have left because they had their own insecurities, they may have been too nervous to carry on with the date, whatever the reason, it was about them and not about the man left in the restaurant.

Tip: Think “Whatever anyone else thinks of me is none of my business”

Remember an important mental hygiene tip - Change the thoughts and words you say to yourself, consistently praise yourself, talk and think about yourself the same way you think and talk to your best friend.

Because we are hardwired to act in a way that matches our thinking.

Every thought you think causes a physical reaction and an emotional response within you, your mind doesn’t care if what you tell it is good, bad, healthy, unhealthy, right or wrong, it accepts and acts on what you think and say.

• Imagination in the mind is more powerful than knowledge.
• If there’s a battle between logic and emotion, emotion wins every time.
• Your minds job is to keep you safe.
• Your mind likes what is familiar and moves away from the unfamiliar, to make a healthier habit and blueprint, you will need to consistently change your thoughts and words to make the unfamiliar familiar, because the mind learns by repetition.
• Your mind responds to your thoughts, your words and the pictures you make in your head, what you present to your mind, your mind will present back to you.
• What is expected tends to be realised.
• Your mind cannot hold conflicting beliefs and thoughts, they will just cancel each other. out. Eg. Saying “I’m so fat, I want to lose weight” will not help you shed weight.
• Your mind can only work in the present tense.
• Whatever you focus on, you get more of.
• Your mind does not recognise neutral words eg. Don’t, can’t no, not, later, maybe, tomorrow.
• Your mind works to move you away from pain to pleasure, which is why we can go back to over eating, smoking, taking drugs etc, if we live without practicing mental hygiene . after gaining help with quitting, because our mind likes the easy habit of pleasure and familiar until we rewire it.
• Your mind responds better to positive words and to specific detailed dynamic words and instructions.