Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Reality.
What a complex world we have created. Life used to be one reality – the world as we saw and lived day to day. That’s no longer our experience. The cyber and technological age has spawned multi realities of every type. Added to this the online world shares every type of moving image and picture that makes reality hard to pin down. Reality has risen towards the top of issues that increasingly bother us. Which means SMS has to delve in and make some observations and ask some questions.
1. Where does reality begin?
You walk along the street. Perhaps visit some local shops. You then go out for a quiet meal and a nice drink with your partner. And then return home to your suburban house or apartment in your nearby neighbourhood. But then you switch on the TV news or watch some social media. This paints a very different picture of reality. Historically your experience was the general reality. Now in the global reality world maybe it’s outdated. Maybe what we watch on our TV’s and mobile phones is closer to the real thing. We have become clouded and confused.
Where is ‘actual’ reality these days? Where do we begin to find it?
2. Making reality about fame.
In the early 1970’s the BBC were the first to broadcast a reality show. It was called The Family. A fly-on-the-wall documentary series that followed the Wilkins family in their everyday lives. It was total reality; a real working class family in their real situations. Well, today it couldn’t be more different. Back then it was down to earth people in their basic normal experiences. Now it’s some celebrity (every viewer has never heard of some of them) doing stupid stunts or in some exotic place that is far from reality for 99.9% of the planet’s population.
Is reality being turned into only a famous way of living?
3. New reality isn’t real at all.
Reality used to be ON the planet. Living on the streets type style that many graft through rather than the Belle Air set and similar. Life as IT IS. But we are living in technological times that has spawning cyber influences. The under 30’s have, in effect, grown up with TWO worlds. The physical and the online. The mortal on Earth, and the eternal one in the cybersphere. More and more are viewing reality as simply the other worlds they want to play and explore on. Everyday reality is being rejected as harsh, boring, drab, and only 2D. They live in a multi dimensional one.
Have many people rejected reality as we always knew it?
4. Reality or fantasy?
Take a look at both examples above. One glamour and luxury. The other computer formed and cyber driven. Both are not reality in the sense of the true human world. The lines have become blurred between actual reality and elements of fantasy. Sure, it’s fun to be in a computer simulated game where you act as a billionaire and play to grow your riches. It’s also cool to see celebs dating on a sun kissed shore or making money doing a boot camp and thinking that could be you too. Yes, it’s not difficult to imagine that. But that’s not ever a likely reality.
Are too many caught up in fantasy that they believe can be a reality?
5. Reality too hard to deal with.
With all of the above growing it’s clear that escapism is what many are seeking. To exist in a different way in some cyber world or dream of the high life as a well known personality. Life has become stressful, uncertain, and worrying. Since the 21st Century began we have faced financial credit challenges, a world pandemic, and constant costs of living increases. Nothing good seems to surface. Given that, real daily life is far from inspiring. Any type of alternative appeals far more. We need to get away from the times we live in because….
Has our daily reality become too hard to deal with?
OK, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Perhaps YOURS!!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Photo attributions – free to use under Pixabay Content License by BrianPenny and Riki32 and Yamu_Jay.
From the never ending price increases of everything to war and abuse everywhere, we feel unsafe, not secure, and under threat from every corner.
The place this hits home most of all is in our minds. Our mental centres have to process every element that we are seeing, hearing and experiencing and they are often crammed and overloaded.
In turn this makes our mental strength wane. We lose the ability to feel good about life and are weaker at dealing with events and circumstances. And that tends to register as a huge negative. The message to our minds is a clear warning that we are losing it. We are caught in a struggle and believe mentally that we won’t be able to cope.
Well, as someone who has been there over 25 years ago when mental health wasn’t as important as it is today, I can tell you that this is untrue.
In fact, it was the other way round. That’s because my mental frailties only existed because I wasn’t aware of the good news caught up in the seemingly failing mindset. As they say, if I knew then what I knew now I wouldn’t have been sacred, I would been very encouraged.
That’s what I’m going to do for you. If you’re feeling scared about your current mental tests, read on. I’m going to share the 5 MAJOR reasons why this could be the start of a great mindset for you.
So, here the fab five for your mind if it’s currently a bit out of shape!
1. There is nothing wrong with you.
When I experienced my own mental health struggle I had just been through an extreme time.
I was in my twenties and my father suddenly passed away. Soon after I lost my prized job in sport, money and income became hard, and my partner left me.
Now, that can tip many people over the edge.
With such a rollercoaster of emotions, especially painful ones, it’s natural to lose your way. But, this is totally natural. Feelings of hurt and happiness always partner us through life. Sometimes it’s sunshine, other times it’s rain. Sometimes feeling great, the next feeling pain.
I say this because I personalised my difficulties. Everything that happened to me was either my fault, or I contributed to it. In short, I felt that it was payback and there was something wrong with me. Or, more precisely, I was wrong in every way and I deserved it.
As the years passed I understood that this was BS. I just couldn’t accept things happen and they happen to good people as much as bad. It’s called life and life brings its ups and downs. So don’t get down on yourself. It’s nothing to do with you. You’re not going mental and you’re not mentally flawed (after all a hassled head may save your life).
There is NOTHING wrong with you as a person!
2. Life throws curve balls.
Remember when you were young and you thought life would be amazing?
Yeah, me too. Almost all of us did.
We really knew nothing of the world. Our parents had pretty much sheltered us from its harsh reality. And then we went out into that reality. We soon learnt that the dream was never how actual life was.
Sure, the first four or five years were exciting. Got a job, got some money in our pocket, got a few partners, and got some fun going on. Hey, this is only going to get better and better.
But soon schooldays got left behind and adult days took over. There was no protection anymore that our parents provided. We had to deal with the full face of swimming for survival ‘out there’. Job was no fun, underpaid and stressful. Break ups with partners were par for the course. The party atmosphere was over and true life started throwing even more for us to juggle with.
That’s what life is best at. Chucking stuff at us we just weren’t prepared for.
Stuff that throws us off.
Life is full of curve balls that play with our heads.
3. It shines a light where it needs to be shone.
We tend to live life on automatic.
The modern human doesn’t have to worry about dinosaurs or marauding invaders from other tribes every day like our ancestors. Our concerns revolve around our traffic jammed commute, email inbox at the office, or paying the spiralling utility bills.
Today our mind focuses on these and not any other study of our lives. Our ancients had to check if their spears or axes were sharp enough. We just check if we have a good broadband speed.
Therefore we tend to live on repeat. A kind of mental Groundhog Day. And that’s when we drop the ball.
We give our attention to a narrow few elements in our life and ignore many others.
That’s where mental struggle comes in. It finds our blind spots and weak points and shines one big light on them to highlight where we’ve taken our eye off the ball. And this light blinds us in the mind with our personal headaches of issues that keep cropping up.
Issues that say ‘you are getting depressed about putting on weight’ or ‘you have no social life because your job you hate is consuming all your time’. Big clues aren’t always easy to spot. Mental struggles assist in this.
They switch on a lightbulb in us at what needs fixing.
4. It encourages you not to do life alone.
Most of us don’t like to trouble others with our problems.
We keep them to ourselves for feeling foolish or failing in the eyes of those around us in our lives. And so these problems fester and grow and begin becoming big trouble themselves. We even keep our mental difficulties from our partners and closest friends.
This is the perfect breeding ground for mental struggles to thrive. With no outlet or comfort we lose perspective and this magnifies our struggles even further.
As such our failing mental health is down to a failing to allow others to support us and care.
Us humans love sharing the good times but baulk at sharing the load when it’s heavy within us. If we could break that behaviour, we could all deal with our mental weights far better, not to mention quicker.
Truth is others would love to be there for us. They would readily be by our side to help us figure out what’s ailing us. Plus show their love and loyalty so we can overcome the sources of our mental pushes. Only our misplaced pride is getting in the way.
While some can go further into their shell at such periods of pressure, if we can recognise they can be a call to share what’s on our mind, we can build a stronger mindset that isn’t holed by life. Because, we are not meant to live life alone.
A good head often comes with letting a good friend help.
5. They give you boundaries.
When is enough, enough?
Often that’s a question we don’t ever ask ourselves so we never know a rational answer.
Instead we plough on with our lives doing this and that, pulled this way and pulled that, until we finally can’t take anymore. Traditionally it was called burnout but it’s been called many things from hyper exhaustion to a breakdown.
Whatever the definition or label attached, it still typifies that we push on regardless past sensible stop points. Signs that point to our schedule being too full, our energy levels too used up, our mental calm too destroyed, or our bank balance too low.
We didn’t heed the pointers that were clearly there.
But, constant mental struggles when seen from a bigger picture bring almighty feedback.
They show you the boundaries that you have crossed on the way to mindset mayhem. Trace back and you can identify certain moments when you should have stopped, said no, cut back spending etc etc.
If you can do this without self blame or guilt you will be on your way to a kind of lifestyle upgrade that ends up with a better mind as well. Boundaries are there for a reason. Being able to act with reason means you won’t cross them again. You will also have specific trigger points in your awareness that, if they ever pop up again, will warn you where you are.
Boundaries take us from one place to another.
And mental struggles provide us with alarms that we have reached those boundaries.
If ever there was a reason.
So, if ever there was reason to not be scared of mental struggles, here they are.
Not just one, but five that can give you back full mental control. And with that a real sense of the sun shining into your life again.
And do they work, really work?
Well, as I said at the start of this blog post that I went through deep mental trials of my own decades go. These 5 were what I created to get back my best mental state and to return to life to thrive.
Thrive so successfully that any mental intensity has hardly touched me or holed my life again.
And there’s the main reason why you shouldn’t be sacred of mental struggles either!
Please note – this post is for people who are beginning to experience mental tiredness and mild anxiety with everyday issues and challenges. If you have suffered from mental health issues for many weeks and months, please seek qualified medical health and support to help you aid recovery!!
From personal phones and computers to complicated systems that run our infrastructure, we are a highly high-tech world.
We have created machines that can calculate, organise, manage, and inform at a level far greater than ever before. And we are continuing to do so. Which means the modern ideas revolve around their operation and use.
Apps are multiplying faster than humanity every day. AI has arrived at full speed and is the becoming the No.1 tool of use by business. The next generation is already here with driverless cars being trialled on our roads.
Technology seems here to stay and our future.
Traditional has had its day. Or has it?
No matter how advanced we become, we will always require simple. It remains a key element of life.
Which means if you have a great simple idea, you should always follow it through. It could be highly lucrative.
Simple sound, big success.
Sounds are everywhere.
After all the world is nosier than ever.
But, we tend to filter out virtually all of them. Our senses are now more alerted to pings on our phone or updates on our car sat nav of trouble ahead. Everyday, simple sounds just don’t get a look in. We now only switch onto a small range of sounds.
One songwriter managed to do that one day and turned his band’s fortunes right around.
He and his fellow group’s members were in Miami recording an album. It seemed a long process. Every day they would cross a causeway bridge over water to the studio. As the car went over the expansion joints it made little clickty-clack sounds a bit similar to a train crossing tracks.
The tired singer had tuned out of normal thinking as the album was proving longer to record than hoped. And so, that morning his ears picked up the little rickety beat from the creaking over the bridge.
This struck a chord with him. He began to hear a rhythm in the clicks. A beat formed. And a song was born and he used it as a major intro into what was to turn into a worldwide smash.
That artist was Barry Gibb. His band were The Bee Gees. And the song title he created from that trip was Jive Talkin’ (listen to the intro!!).
Within months the song was No.1 on the US Billboard chart and would go on to make millions of dollars.
All from a simple everyday sound that triggered an idea.
Everyday inspiration.
The everyday things around us are where I ideas can be found.
I’m going to use sound again to prove this point. But sound in a different way.
The late, great, already missed Dolly Parton had been cast as one of the lead roles of an upcoming movie called 9 to 5. She had also been asked to write a song for the film to go along with the title. She was drumming up ideas in her head and scratching her acrylic nails together. Immediately she realised it made the sound of a typewriter and the daily grind for many women workers.
This gave her the beat and being the legendary writer she was, the song also called 9 to 5 soon followed. The tune made No.1 on both the Billboard and Country charts and to this day it creates over $6million in royalties per year.
All from scratching her nails to think of how to start the song.
It seems very basic, doesn’t it? But that IS how it works.
What we hear, see, smell touch, or taste each day has the power to transport us into a whole new idea and world. It works because if we relate to it, most people on the planet will too. It’s not obscure. It’s not rare. In fact, it’s there all the time but no-one has paid attention enough to do anything with it.
Our senses will know these simple things and immediately pick them up.
Simple sensations like these are undiscovered gold that we have not mined enough.
How simple can YOU get?
You have heard the phrase, ‘how simple can you get’?
Right, let’s personalise and come back to you. How simple can YOU get? What simple things could YOU turn into a business idea, product, or even individual offering that you get known for?
There are literally millions of options that people dismiss every single day that can be turned into a workable business idea.
Your love of something that has led you to knowing all about it, for example. Let’s say you can rustle up hundreds of dishes with sweet potato or paprika. Or how you can teach people to sing in ten steps as you’ve already shown friends.
If you STOP thinking along the lines of regular ideas that have been done you can win. If you START looking at what you possess and are niche at (niche is really ‘specialist’), you can become a master of it.
Imagine the flutes you make out of wood for local kids being a larger enterprise. Or how you love doing your hairstyle in old retro cuts could span out into tutorials for others or even courses for salons.
So shine up what you think is too simple in your mind and start offering it to the world. Dismiss any thoughts it needs a huge market because it could turn into a cult following, and then you are made. Simple can just be STUNNING!
The possibilities are endless with simple ideas. The end results can be limitless.
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Honesty.
Honesty seems an old word and human trait these days. It feels like a behaviour we once used to show in the past as it has been fast disappearing in life in the modern society. What was once a cast iron human value, now is a rare breed among people compared to the past. That’s a worrying trend and so SMS has to take a look at this endangered species among mankind.
1. Faking it is making it.
The arrival of social media seems perfectly aligned with the recent rapid decline in honesty. When it began honesty was still in. We didn’t want to look liars and fakes. But as recognition became a temptation especially as we were talking more and more to people we did not know, honesty began to wane. The desire to create an online life that doesn’t match our real life that could lift our image and even income, meant faking it to make it expanded in epidemic proportions.
So, is it OK to join in faking our life as everyone is doing it now? Does that make it right?
2. We are spiritual not religious.
The whole ethos of honesty and integrity was at the heart of society that was founded and ran on religious principles. Over the previous centuries our churches and places of worship were central to the community. Their teachings, their laws of faith, and their messages that our Gods would not approve dripped into the mass conscience. But, we are less religious than ever. We have turned spiritual. The new teachings are that the Universe wants us to succeed and have things. Nothing about honesty comes into it. We just go get what we want.
Has the new spiritual era kicked off a less than honest person today?
3. Feelings first.
Life on Earth today has changed markedly since the century began. Where we were once hardy and thick skinned, it’s all flipped upside down. Everyone has become offended and upset about almost anything. Especially minor trivial irritations. We have elevated basic bothers to major hurt feelings. You can’t go anywhere or watch any TV show without warnings about potential offense. It’s a cotton wool world. And as being offended or devastated (and other big descriptive adjectives) can lead to benefits, so honesty has gone out the window.
Are we using our feelings as an excuse not to be honest?
4. Dishonesty is the new normal.
Perhaps we should not be surprised by dishonesty anymore. Even the great renowned actor and playwright, Noel Coward said, ‘How many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit’. That some 70 years ago when society seemed at least more moral than we experience now. Which raises the painful question…
Are we so used to dishonesty that we just don’t bother with honesty anymore?
5. You lose by being honest.
Have you ever told a white lie? A little fib because the truth would cause you problems or you would lose out? I think we have all done that. Nothing major but it wasn’t worth the hassle to own up to the real story. It starts with a minor untruth (they had no BBQ sauce at the supermarket but really you forgot to pick it up). No repercussions so you move onto bigger stuff (you meet your ex for lunch now and again as you still remember the good times you had). If we admitted either there would be hell to pay, so we keep schtum. And so we get used to shelving honesty at all.
Is it better to not be honest as it’s far less bother?
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Perhaps YOURS!!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Photo attributions – free to use under Pixabay Content License by Mr_Zed and Javaistan.
Little mistakes. Huge mistakes, Stupid mistakes. Lots of mistakes.
That’s because we are human and we’re not perfect. They are part of life itself. As long as mankind is present on this planet, mistakes will always happen.
Most of us get angry or worried when we make a mistake. Usually this is because there may be consequences for our error, or because there already is. Typically then we fear making a mistake as this means something has gone wrong or definitely soon will.
We just don’t like or welcome mistakes. In any walk of life.
Except one.
The higher minded among us. The big goal setters and go getters. The ones with aspirations and a determined vision who know mistakes will happen as part of their endeavours.
Who are these people? The successful achievers.
And here’s why they love mistakes so much.
Mistakes SHOULD happen.
Everyday people tend to believe mistakes shouldn’t happen.
We beat ourselves up when we make a faux pas. Or get frustrated at our silliness. And when dealing with companies and organisation who mess up, we get annoyed and disappointed.
But, not everyone does.
There are those whose minds see mistakes as one more step towards their aims. One more thing learned, discovered, or given feedback. For them mistakes are merely updates. These are the people who go on to bigger things because they don’t allow themselves to be held back by failures or errors.
And there are some very famous examples you will know well.
One inventor famously made the quote, ‘I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work’.
That fabulous attitude was owned by Thomas Edison. The pioneer and creator of the lightbulb. But what is lesser known about him is that he held 1,093 patents on various inventions. From the phonograph to a talking doll, a durable battery to the electrographic vote recorder (an early voice recorder…very early!),
Edison demonstrated a clear cut don’t-give-up mentality. His notebooks contained over 4,000 various ideas and inventions he believed could be built.
While he was a great innovator, another man was a great sport.
Always take the shot.
The typical guy or girl on the street is reluctant to risk much.
They may have a very attractive business proposition. They may have a new product. Or simply a fresh service they have seen a gap in the market it can fill. But they hold back actually rolling the dice and taking a shot at it.
Others have no choice, shots are part of the very game they play.
Famous people become famous because they do famous things.
Witness the story of a young basketball hopeful in the 1980’s. At the age of 18 he was drafted to play for the Chicago Bulls. The pressure was immense at the pro level. But, he was an instant hit. The Bulls made the play offs that season after missing them for a number of years and he went on to lead all the averages in the NBA.
Roll forwards to the end of his career. When he finally retired at the start of this century his roll call of honours was staggering. Six NBA champion medals, 14 times NBA All start player, and 10 times NBA scoring champion among numerous accolades. This was Michael Jordan.
But to achieve all that he had to make a huge amount of mistakes. As he noted in this famous quote –
‘I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed’.
Even the world’s best ever knows mistakes builds champions.
Meaningful mistakes.
The key to success is the meaning behind them.
Errors and mishaps doing silly stunts just to get TikTok traffic perhaps isn’t truly meaningful. Neither is having an accident by driving too fast to show off your sports car. Dumb stuff that leads to dumb results.
The pursuit of higher and nobler goals which creates mistakes, well that’s a far more meaningful endeavour. Setbacks in the process of reaching for greater goals and personal good should be expected. And definitely viewed as signs that you are moving ahead.
Attempting to build a brand around your cartoon character design and your first few marketing promos bomb. Review, gather yourself, and go again, it’s par for the course. Seeking being a culinary expert in the use of spices in food and you can’t quite perfect the right combination balance for your signature dishes. Test and taste, test and taste, and they will eventually come together.
Anything that leads to a lasting advance will contain mistakes without fail. They are how you get there.
Such personal projects are where mistakes meet meaning meet magic in the end.
Mistakes are the anchor for all the most successful souls that pulls them back so they can find ways up the progress ladder. But only when they are scaling the heights to a milestone not a plaything.
And that, my friend, is what you have to do too.
Make mistakes with real meaning!
Success is a mistake away.
Could a mistake make your life?
Yes, 100% so!
But the vast majority of us are scared of those mistakes. We fear being embarrassed or losing all our money, of having a dreamed dashed or even that people won’t like us if we become a success.
That’s OUR mistake.
Mistakes mature us and our plans and ripen them into something that we can harvest. No-one who has succeeded has done so immediately. They have had to commit time and efforts to realise their wish. So expecting to be an overnight winner is the real error if there is one in our minds. The failed attitude that isn’t prepared to fail even for one day to live a great life further on down the line.
Mistakes mean we are one day, one improvement closer to what we yearn for. And that’s the proverbial journey of a thousand miles the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius taught the world. A step, not into unknown, but into the bigger future we want to experience.
Don’t let yourself be someone who won’t make a mistake.
Because that’s the biggest mistake keeping you from every success you want.
References – thomasedison.org – Thomas Edison Inventions.
