In a crazy busy world, it’s critical that you have a safe place where you can reset yourself. A place where you can let everything go and just be yourself. A place where you can remove all the responsibilities and weight off your shoulders. That’s the best way to avoid depression, burnout, growing anxiety and improve your overall performance as man and business leader. When you hear the words “safe place”, you’re probably thinking of a physical place or location. Although it’s great to have a place to go to when most need it, it’s not always possible. You can’t just excuse yourself from an important client meeting and head over to a hammock on the beach. Therefore, the safest place should be your mind as it’s the most readily available and you own it, 100%. Your mind should be your sanctuary.
The Harsh Truth
As much as your mind should be your sanctuary, for most men it’s not. Not because you don’t want it to be. More likely because you’ve been trained to be “on” all the time. You’re constantly thinking about work or the other things in your life that aren’t going well or need to be addressed. Everything seems like it needs to be addressed “now” although it rarely does. The Buddhists call this the “monkey mind.” It behaves like a monkey, jumping and climbing from one place to another almost without reason or cause. Don’t worry if this sounds like you because it’s very common.
However, if you don’t train the monkey soon, you’ll not only miss out on enjoying more of your life, you’ll miss out on performing better in every aspect as well. A monkey mind only gets in the way and clouds your judgement without you even knowing. It’s sole purpose is to keep you preoccupied from what really matters. If you find yourself wanting to escape your life or situation, you’re ultimate wanting to escape your mind. Instead of your mind being your sanctuary, it has become the very thing you’re trying to hide from. You may use mindless TV, alcohol or drugs, activities to keep yourself busy or other tactics to distract your mind. If that’s you, then it’s time to take control. Your mind must be the place to go to find refuge.
How To Train Your Mind To Be Your Sanctuary
There are two techniques that I use personally as well as train other men to use to strengthen their mind and whip their monkey into shape.
The first is being a kid again and daydreaming wonderful things. Go back to when you were a little boy. Do you remember what it felt like to daydream? Your parents could be shouting your name, but you were so caught up in your mind that nothing could distract you. Your mind was your safe place back then. That’s where you would go to create your own world and your world was fun and enjoyable. You need to be a boy again. Approach your world with curiosity, playfulness and imagination instead of seriousness.
Second is to calm your mind. The more you calm your mind, the safer it becomes. Instead of running away from it, you’ll run towards it. There are many different methods to calm your mind. You need to find what works for you. I personally find meditation, exercise, mindfulness practices and walking through my orchard the most calming. You could also try yoga, tai chi, or other activities that force you to be more present. Once you find what works for you, do it daily.
Summary
The best performers are those who are able to recoup faster. There’s nothing better than recouping in your own mind rather than depending on external factors that aren’t in your control. Your mind is there with you 24/7. Instead of letting it get the best of you, learn to use it to your advantage. Make it work for you.
All the best!
Purdeep
