Our minds are capable of phenomenal things. Precision is one of them.
Mentally we have the inbuilt ability to employ laser like focus in the pursuit of a goal, skill, aspiration, or achievement. Most minds though are only directed to scroll through social media, watch Netflix for hours, and pour over any concern no matter how small. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You have the art within you to utilise mental precision.
Others have magically done so.
Koji Mayuyama is known as The God Hand. In his native Japan he is a revered person. As a self taught ceramatist, he is the one museums, collectors, and organisations turn to when they need pottery and ceramics restored. But, they are not just any pottery. They are ancient artefacts, historical dynasty collections, and national treasures.
To normal restorers they are beyond repair. Fragile, brittle, highly damaged, and largely broken pots, bowls, vases etc that were made through traditional methods centuries before that have long since gone out of practice. Their materials no longer common or rare. The job would defeat everyone. Not Koji. This is how he gets his title as Japan’s Master of Restoration.
If you watch him at work (see link above to BBC series) you will see huge attention to detail (through researching and sourcing natural minerals and compounds to augment his restoring), patient crafting, and, above all, complete mental precision.
It’s not just the preparation that makes him so sought after. It’s the pure unadulterated focus to complete the job. Whether that’s umpteen weeks, many months….or even longer. It’s also why he purportedly commands 5 figures per piece for some of his work.
He has turned art restoration into the art of mental precision!
Mamba Mind.
Some careers are slow burners. A rare breed though are meteoric.
In 1984 a young American boy was living in Italy due to his father’s work. He was an avid sports fan and particularly enjoyed football (soccer) as it was the Italian national game. But, he also participated in basketball because his Dad played the game. When they moved back to Philadelphia in the early 90’s, the die was cast. Basketball called his name.
He was a natural player and mover on court and in a few short years he was training with the famous 76ers to get fitter. Then came his bold move. Despite having good grades at school, he decided to abandon his studies and aim for the NBA itself even though he was still in high school. A gamble all young would-be basketball hopefuls just would not take.
He was different. He was drafted and soon traded to the LA Lakers. Here his legendary rise to fame began it’s sharp rise to international stardom. The young man led the team to the NBA championship, played on winning Olympic teams, and led the league in scoring for two years in a row.
That player was Kobe Bryant. His stellar confidence shone through. His ube belief never wavered. Where did he get it from?
It came from his self-created Mamba Mentality. He defined this as ‘focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. It’s the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit’. Absolute mental precision in other words. Set the belief, keep it like steel, never waver, hold the nerve, see it through. And succeed in a pinnacle way. He even wrote a best selling book called, ‘The Mamba Mentality: How I Play’.
The Mamba man who became one of the sporting greats.
Find your precision.
Kobe Bryant and Koji Mayuyama found their mental precision.
Found it where they could deliver it. Found it so they could use it in something specialist they could pursue to iconic outcomes and personal mastery.
That type of future can be destined for you too. Just like a novice restorer or novice basketballer, before you what you would seek may seem out of reach, beyond possible, crazy to consider, and a pipe dream. But, with mental precision, a locked in mindset of belief that does not let go of achieving the very best no matter the unfolding events around you, the best of yourself with it, the result will skyrocket you into a world very few ever experience.
To win your gold medals or be chosen to bring ancient treasures back to life.
It’s not WHAT you choose to achieve or become. It’s the MENTAL FORTITUDE you take with you on the journey. What mental companion you let accompany you on your pilgrimage to prominence. Find something that will force and forge something great within you to come to life. Take the higher road with your mind.
Step into ongoing mental precision and excel yourself.
References – www.biography.com – Kobe Bryant.
www.brittanica.com – Kobe Bryant.
medium.com – Mamba Mentality.
bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes – japans-master-of-restoration.
Photo attribution – https://pixabay.com/photos/male-model-fashion-portrait-9707881/ – free for use under the Pixabay Content License.
I’m often asked how someone can develop a SuperMind.
Most people believe it is some complex procedure that will take years. Or a specialist programme few have the desired intelligence to qualify for. Not so. In fact, it’s all about getting started, forging the right foundations and building momentum.
And that’s something anyone can do whether they are from Milan or Mogadishu, Brisbane or Boston, Peru or the Philippines.
Because a SuperMind is what we all have and what we can all strengthen.
So, let’s get your SuperMind development up and running with these 4 simple SuperMind boosters.
1. Re-imagine differently.
You already imagine, don’t you?
What you imagine, though, are your worst fears, of everything going wrong and turning out pear shaped. Ones you keep having without fail.
And those images are driving actions and behaviours formed from the negatively set beliefs and thinking they have forged into you. If you only ever see bad things, you will expect bad things, and so end up avoiding most things. For example, if you only ever see businesses failing and picturing total financial disaster in your head, it will be no surprise that you will steer well clear of starting your own venture.
If you only ever imagine horror stories about love or travel, you will be a lone soul who stays at home rather than part of a happy couple on an exotic beach.
You have to begin re-imagining. Re-imagining differently, better, brighter, more optimistically, and with everything going right and working out. This HAS to be your first port of call for a SuperMind to take root.
Today, add some look good, feel good, imagined outcomes in your mind. Repeat day after day.
2. Write down ideas.
You have an amazing idea.
A possible great product or developing a talent you have to meet a gap in the market. In your mind it looks good. Or something to explore further; a project that really interests you or a personal ability to expand. You decide to think about it.
A few days pass. Your head has been infiltrated by other stuff – tasks to complete at home, a heavy workload in the office, shopping duties, kids to pick up, your normal weekly hobbies. Soon that super idea has gone to the back of your mind, and then out of it completely. You can’t quite recall what you thought was so cool or lucrative….and now you are frustrated and disappointed.
You can prevent this ever happening. When those brilliant ideas come out of nowhere, write them down. Always have a small note pad to hand to capture those initial idea bursts. Record as much as you receive in your mind. As your mind feeds you the total scene and how it can unfold, put it down on paper to protect. You can always add it to a computer file afterwards. Then you can revisit, rework, and progress this golden concept.
You can’t grow what you don’t keep. Do the write thing, write ideas down!
3. Discard distractions.
What grabs the mind gets the attention. All other thinking and activity gets shelved as it gets caught up in this attractor.
This means important functions such as idea generation or mental confidence building become halted. And if the source of the attention does not go away, these highly crucial attributes of the mind power down as they are not considered important.
The No.1 origin that causes this are distractions. Ones that don’t expand or improve life, they offer no growth potential or mental development. The problem is that they are the same for the majority of all of us. Yes, you know the ones!
Social media, endless scrolling on the phone entertaining yourself with funny videos, catching up with world news or sports updates, plus bingeing on a Netflix series or a few hours of down time in front of the box (that’s TV for the non-Brits out there), nights out with the boys or girls and the like.
We all are due some fun space. We deserve a break and some escapism. Except that it’s not a few minutes or something to watch over a coffee break or after a long weekend of self improvement work. It’s a daily occurrence without pause. It’s sucking the mental life out of you and you have to start binning it.
If you truly want mental muscle that can help you achieve anything, ditch the distractions.
4. Start power reading.
You mind needs a new spark.
An igniter of stronger possibility. An inspirer for far more. Something that uplifts, encourages, informs, and stimulates the best thinking.
Welcome to books.
Good books. Ideas books. Development books. Not wild fiction books or genres that again act as a distraction. Books DO help us exist within another world but it mustn’t be a dark world or harsh world or any similar world that tells a story of pain, struggle, and even death.
You have to get into books that propel you upwards where achievement lives. They can be personal life story autobiographies from the successful. Equally they could be true history tales from the past detailing success and how great things happened.
Top of the lot are educational books from the ultimate writers in your field. Those that have more than ‘been there done that’ and have actually created some blueprint that fires up your mind to how you too can elevate yourself. One of my all time favourites is ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. That’s one of mine, get power reading and discover some of your all time mind movers that get your head in a new bigger game.
Reading books is filling your mind with mental fulfilment fuel.
That’s your fab four right there. Four simple SuperMind boosters. Four is all it will take for your mind to start working in the progressive ways it was built for and has been waiting for.
Four mega kick starters anyone can set off today that will keep bringing benefits for years to come.
Picture attribution – under free content license https://pixabay.com/photos/man-portrait-adult-people-business-3022255/.
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 – Alcohol.
Alcohol has been part of human lives for millenia. It’s almost as old as we are. It’s our relaxant, our social supporter, and our reward all in one. But, it’s not all play. Alcohol has a darker side and many lives have been ruined by it. This week SuperMind Saturday takes a look at the substance.
- The vast majority of us like a drink. It quells our stress and boosts our feel good levels. But, the amount we drink to achieve this has been going up year upon year with more people than ever drinking more than ever. Why do we need alcohol so much as our go-to solution to life and will that ever change?
- Alcohol used to be consigned to pubs at certain times of the day and for special occasions like weddings and Christmas. Then along came supermarkets open all day and longer opening times for bars. Alcohol is now on tap permanently. Because it’s now available all the time, have we got too used to alcohol as a norm and what is that creating?
- Alcohol acts as a short term answer. Feeling low or unhappy or any despondency about life we often choose to reach for a good drink to ease our mood even though it will never solve the reason we needed it in the first place. Why do we choose to mask our issues like this so we never deal with them?
- Alcohol will probably never be banned. Or unlikely to be seriously limited in what we buy or consume. Let’s say it was though. Let’s say it was phased out. What would us people of planet Earth use to feel the same way (something legal and not dangerous)? Could we find a new source of calming pleasure that’s less addicitve?
- International footballer, George Best, famously said, ‘In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol – it was the worst 20 minutes of my life’. He died in his 50’s from the effects of alcohol. Should we just accept that this is what happens to some people, that’s it’s the price to pay for overindulging in such fun? After all it’s a major pastime for most of us.
Ok SuperMinds there you have it. I could ask many more questions about alcohol. It’s THAT popular as a topic.
And that wraps up another SuperMind Saturday. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these through the week to open up more of your mind and its potential. Consider more, generate ideas more, think on bigger possibilities more, activate your connection to your personal higher mind. Employ your SuperMInd and Super Think!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Photo attribution – Free for use under the Pixabay Content License by Imofotografia
Partnering is what we do best.
If it’s not a life partner it’s a best friend or group of pals. Even our work place is a style of partnering in a job scenario to create results. It’s what we are made for, and it often brings out the best in us.
I have already posted one set of true stories that perfectly prove this last month (see that post here). In this second segment I’ll prove it even further with some of the biggest names in business in the world and how jointly they crafted major success.
Everyone has heard of Nike. The multi-billion dollar sports brand. It’s one of the top five success stories over the last four decades. But less people today have heard of Harris Tweed. The company was once an iconic Scottish fashion mainstay. Everyone from country folk to Royalty wore their jackets and clothing, all crafted on looms on the isle of Harris in the Scottish Islands.
But, times moved on. Fashion preferences changed. People favoured softer fabrics and sexy must-have brands on the up. The traditional tweed seemed dated, a historical throwback confined to times gone by. The market shrank, jobs were lost, and the economic future of the industry looked about to disappear for good..
But, in 2001, along came Nike. Looking for a fresher version of their Terminator trainer, they thought Harris Tweed could help promote the footwear in a specialised way and create a buzz. They ordered 10,000 yards of the cloth. Soon anyone who could weave on the Outer Hebrides islands was hard at work.
The orders flew off the shelves and saved Harris Tweed. Today their mill employs over 70 people and supports over 100 weavers. And they haven’t stopped there. This year Nike and Harris are combining once more for a limited edition Dunk Low trainers.
Such is the power of partnership and collaboration. For hip and cool with historical and elegant.
Top Marks together.
It’s not just one-off associations that form an amazing alliance.
Some have been lucratively in existence for many years.
When a Belarusian immigrant arrived in the North of England in the 1880’s he spoke hardly any English and had little money. He started up a small stall in Leeds market selling small homeware items under the slogan, ‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’. The phrase caught on and soon he was doing well. Meeting a cashier from his wholesale suppliers they joined forces – one the stock purchaser and promoter, the other the credit and financial controller.
The partnership soon opened full Penny Bazaar stores where customers were free to browse which was not the normal custom.
The stores grew and expanded to 12 stores and 24 market stalls in only a few years and they were renamed under their surnames….
Marks and Spencer.
Today they can still be found in every high street in the UK plus 434 stores internationally across the globe. From one penniless newcomer who joined with an everyday local to develop an idea, today the business is worth £7.13billion. Yes…BILLION!!
Now do you believe in the power of partnership?
Penniless power.
You don’t need mass capital. Ideas are free.
They often span out of people with no funds or empty pockets who have to find a way to progress their fledgling concept idea or business. They also lead to joining forces with another person in the same position or with a similar vision. Needs must as they say.
Often it’s when we are stuck and struggling that our best ideas evolve. They are also the perfect moments to co-join with a partner to share skills, contacts, and add twice the manpower to pushing from a bad position to a brilliant one.
So when you have your next awesome idea that you hope will save the day, look also for a companion who can share the load and the road ahead with you. Partner-ships are ones that help us sail into new waters. And they often ensure that the tide turns in our favour.
Ideas are free, partnerships are golden.
If you are wondering what to do next, joining with a partner could be what works wonders for both of you.
Reference – Bbc.co.uk – Nike’s fling with Harris Tweed.
news.stv.tv – Nike and Harris Tweed unite.
Financial Times – www.ft.com – First Person: Donald John Mackay
corporate.marksandspencer.com – Our History.
archive.marksandspencer.com – Timelines – The M&S Story.
Photo attribution – free to use under the Pixabay content license by solmaiororquestra
Superthinking is something anyone can develop. Anyone at all.
Hearing the term Superthinking though makes us believe it’s some specialised ability set out for the luckily born brilliant few. The type of thinking available only to top scientists, mathematicians like Einstein, or those born with some genetic advantage that boosts their brain power.
That’s far from the truth.
In fact, you can start Superthinking TODAY in important key, but easily achievable steps.
So, get ready to superthink by following these three mind boosters.
Step 1 – Cut out the sad sources.
Our mind is fed by two sources of belief and thinking.
The first is from our past, often our distant childhood, creating inherited hang ups and insecurities. They added imprints and influences that still run round our mentality today. We, however, are often aware that our lack of drive to achieve came from Mum’s advice not to risk too much. Or our view we are not smart enough from how we were a late developer at school and others got better marks than we did. We know why we are the way we are in relation to them.
The second is a silent damager to our psyche. Bad sources of information we access on a daily basis. These infiltrate and secretly infect our outlook on life and the world. Rolling news with their awful narratives and images. Social media with its fake presentation of who is up to what and why. Mind numbing TV series of dark thrillers, murder, violent crime, and everything with a heavier edge. They are NOT entertainment. They are like taking a mind poison day after day.
Step 1 – you have to cut out these sad sources that suck the air out of your hopes and possibilities.
Step 2 – Develop a super set.
You step up in step 2.
Nature abhors a vacuum. By removing one source of mental information, you have to replace it with another. You have to find a new fuel for your brain waves.
To do this you are going to create a new super set of thoughts.
This is simply developing a small range of higher belief thoughts and imagined results to match, that you commit to repeating day by day. Ones that can be accessed whether you are in the shower, taking a coffee break, in a traffic jam, or relaxing with a glass of wine after a long day at work or in family duties.
These must be clear, distinctive, and progressive formed of elevated thoughts. Typically they should revolve around personal aims or projects that matter to you. These are NOT affirmations that you say to convince (or con) you that you are going to have a marvellous out of the blue surprise. They represent a bigger future for yourself that represents everything you would love to be and get out of life.
A super set won’t be shallow – wanting just to be a millionaire or a mega influencer so you can feel good about yourself. They are pure personal. Mine would take the form of seeing lots of my popular selling books in the book stores. They would be accompanied by beliefs that I am an accomplished writer who creates unique, original work.
The set can end with individuality – I feel complete living life as this author. I am alive and confident that being myself is fulfilling. And I believe that’s all I ever have to be at all times as I only ever have to be myself. Dedicate some time to forming your own super set.
Step 2 – develop a super set of thinking that fills up your mind with good imagination and energy.
Step 3 – Keep doing the write thing.
How many times have you had a great idea and then forgotten it soon after?
Our minds get so heavy with everything we have to do and remember it gets lost as other required tasks take over. Many of our best notions come and go like this. What’s needed is to record them when they appear.
Any time something cool or amazing or inspiring as a concept, product, or service pops into your head, DON’T LOSE IT. Write it down. Always have a small notebook ready to lay down these out of the blue superthoughts. You don’t need to go into depth yet. Just a quick line with the idea. These can be sub divided into categories if you find you are having ideas on a frequent basis.
Those sub types can be divided by subject (product, business, self career move). They could be recorded under personal rating (such as 3 out of 3 for a option in an area that is a major interest to you, down to 1 out of 3 for a general possibility). Choose a couple for yourself.
Personalising is always the key. They are YOUR ideas from YOUR supermind designed for YOU. Always keep you as the lead soul in everything you mentally produce.
Then, every few weeks keep coming back and reading through them. One or two are going to constantly leap out at you. Even more dramatic is some will trigger your mind to light up major style. THESE are the ones to explore and start the process again. Write how they can evolve. What they or it would look like. Who it would help. What you will need and so on.
Step 3 – keep doing the write thing to get to the right stuff. The stuff of superthinking.
There you have it. The magic 1-2-3. The same three steps that led me to writing my book and creating this site. And what keeps me unfolding even more potential for the supermind thinking future brand. This effectively acts as your proof of life. Your mental proof of how it can all evolve. Because, you don’t need to be an official genius to start superthinking like the best.
You just need to jump in to these three steps to opening up your supermind today.
Photo atrribution – Free for use under the Pixabay content license by geralt.
