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 – World Peace.
Back in the day beauty pageant contestants were often asked what they most wanted in the future. The majority made one simple statement; ‘World peace’. That was then (fifty or so years ago), but world peace seems as far away and as fragile as it’s ever been. SuperMind Saturday therefore has to get involved. Let’s switch our minds on.
Let’s begin.
- American politician Ginny Brown-Waite made a telling declaration when she said, ‘The UN has failed…in its mission to promote world peace’. The UN was once the bastion of ensuring conflicts were controlled and not allowed to develop. They do seem powerless to do that in the current time. Who then do we turn to for world peace? Who is independent enough to help keep the peace that is fair to all?
- Peace is our normal human setting. We don’t strive to fight, we prefer to live without hostility and bloodshed. And yet, war and fighting continue today as much as they did in ancient times. We seemed to have learnt very little. Why do humans not want peace and prefer war so often?
- Ask any normal citizen on the street and they will say they want peace in the world. Everyday people never choose battle and suffering. Therefore it is one or two leaders that lead their country out of peace into combat despite our wishes. How can we work to ensure no warfare can ever start without the public as a whole deciding it is the right, and only, thing to do?
- Children love. Children care. Children want to be friends. Yet, they become adults who seek anything but peace. We teach children to be good, to be kind, to think about others…..then they turn into the opposite. What is happening in our society that good little people become angry, attacking adults, often so soon as their early twenties?
- Peace may never be happening across all of the world, but peace is happening in MOST of the world at any one time. The majority of the population are peaceful live-and-let-live humans. Which is why the news promotes the opposite and the media seems to wait for it. How can we get them to find more positive stories? Are they to blame at spreading a message that the world is not largely a very peaceful place? And the big question of the day….how can we give world peace a better PR and image?
OK SuperMinds, keep the peace and share the good things with each other. It’s our world.
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 to use under Pixabay Content License by Musiat.
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
