Tag Archives: Thinking

Re Train Your Monkey Brain

There was a magical shift in our thinking, long time ago.

According to an Economist.

When we think of doing something NOW, that’s called “present good.”

When we think of doing something in the FUTURE, that’s called “future good.”

The shift happened when early humans learned to IMAGINE a “future good” in the “present,” thereby turning into a “present good.”

For example, let’s say you would like to eat some ice cream, RIGHT NOW.

But you also have a goal of losing weight, six months from now.

Now, you COULD, eat the ice cream now, and say you’ll get started on the diet TOMORROW. (You’ve never done this, right?)

Or you COULD take some time to imagine that FUTURE GOOD (you’re future body) SO MUCH, that it becomes MORE DESIRABLE, as you imagine it in the present (making it a “present good”) than eating the ice cream.

This is what that Economist thought happened to people as they slowly changed from hunter-gatherers (let’s go find something we can eat NOW), into farmers (let’s do work TODAY so we’ll have a CRAPLOAD of easy food in six months).

This REALLY kicked into high gear when any particular society had done this for a few years.

Because of the work in the PAST, they had food TODAY. Enough to last until the food in six months was ready.

Now, who in their right mind, when getting food is easy as planting seeds and waiting, would run after some scary animal and try to kill it?

Needless to say, once EVERYBODY turned into farmers, that’s when societies took off. Governments, laws, massive irrigation systems, running water in or near EVERY HOUSE.

Obviously, that was just the start. That event (the thinking “trick” of DELAYED GRATIFICATION) led to EVERYTHING we have today.

And you can use that SAME thinking trick to train yourself how to take the daily action needed to be able to create ANYTHING.

Fantastic relationships, interesting careers, million dollar skills.

How do you do this?

Every time you think about doing something in the future, there’s a potential BAD outcome and a potential GOOD outcome.

Unfortunately our monkey brains automatically will think of the BAD outcome, and keep you from taking action.

But with proper practice, and some reasoned thought when thinking about taking action, you can take that potential GOOD outcome, and make it BIGGER (in your mind) than that potential BAD outcome.

There are MANY ways to do this.

And with practice, ANY ACTION you’d like to take (giving a powerfully persuasive speech, talking to a super sexy person, explaining to your boss why it’s in HIS or HER best interest to give you a raise), will FEEL GOOD rather than scary.

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Fearless

The Crucial Skill To Master

Scientists, namely physicists, have long been looking for a “grand unification theory.”

One simple, powerful and elegant way to describe all the basic forces of nature.

Governments spend all kinds of cash building supercolliders in hopes of smashing matter into tinier and tinier bits to help explain the nature of “stuff.”

If you can remember any algebra or math, a lot of time is spent on “simplifying” complex expressions into easy to understand ones.

If your test answer was “11/22” you might get less credit than if you put down “1/2” for example.

Our brains went through the same process, and many argue they are still going through that process.

Of becoming more efficient, quicker and able to not waste so much time thinking about stuff.

It’s easier to remember a couple of concepts than a whole bunch of specific details.

If there is ONE simple idea that is an underlying concept in ALL areas of self-development, it is being able to delay gratification.

Some scientists even tell us that our ability to forego current pleasures in order to get more pleasure in the future is one thing that helped us settle down into societies.

Hunter-gathers put in effort today, to get food today.

On the other hand, those that have “discovered” agriculture learn that if you put in a bunch of work THIS MONTH, you’ll get TONS of food a few months from now.

If you think of corn as “wealth” or even “money” the ancient farmers basically discovered how to use “money” to make “money.”

But if you gave a handful to corn to a hunter-gatherer, they would only see food, not a potential to take THAT wealth, and turn it into MORE wealth.

This is IMPOSSIBLE if you aren’t able to delay gratification.

But once you get going, that momentum just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and your yearly success grows greater and greater.

One way to “trick” yourself into being able to do this (or do it better), is take some time and compare a couple of ideas.

The idea of enjoying something NOW, vs. how much you’ll enjoy something in the future MORE if you PUT OFF your NOW enjoyment.

Like take something you’d like to eat, but shouldn’t. First imagine the pleasure you’d get from eating it NOW, then imagine a much bigger pleasure (six pack, loose clothes, compliments, etc.) that you’d get in the future if you DIDN’T eat it.

Take the time to BUILD UP that “future pleasure” until it is more compelling than the “now pleasure.”

This will take time, as it is a skill, rather than a “weird trick.”

And the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

The pretty cool thing about the SKILL of delayed gratification, is it WILL start to show up in other areas of your life.

Making it easier to build a HUGE future for yourself.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Turn On Your Natural Learner

I do a lot of walking early in the morning.

Especially when it’s still dark.

It’s a great time to think, and let my mind wander.

Especially when it’s clear and all the stars are out.

You see a lot of strange folks in the morning.

Some out walking their dogs. Some on bikes delivering newspapers. Some people staggering home from the bars.

(Where I live some of the bars stay open past 2 AM).

The bar people are usually pretty obvious. From a ways away. They know the night’s over, but they’re trying to keep the party going.

Walking slowly to the area of town where all the taxis are. Keeping up their “energy.” Not wanting to break up the group, usually a mix of guys and girls who, for some reason, haven’t managed to close one another. Or didn’t want to.

The dog people are also interesting. Some clearly look like they’d rather be sleeping.

Others look like they enjoy it. The dog is not a burden, it’s an excuse to get out of the house.

It’s not a chore, it’s a companion. It doesn’t limit them, by tying them down to a dependent animal, it frees them.

Many things can easily be thought of “good” or “bad” depending on what you do with them.

Or how you think about them.

Take our brains, for example.

They are pretty good at coming up with reasons why we SHOULDN’T do things.

In fact, talking ourselves out of good ideas is something that everybody is an expert at.

That voice in your head just keeps yammering, and won’t shut up.

However, that voice can be your best friend, or your biggest enemy.

Since it’s YOUR voice, you get to choose.

Now, if it’s been talking smack your whole life, it’s going to take a while to change it.

But just imagine if that voice was ALWAYS giving you POSITIVE advice. Always encouraging you. Always telling you that you could do anything you wanted.

How would your life look?

The thing about our brains is we think they are not programmable. That they are the way they are.

This is why many people, including scientists, believe things like “intelligence” is fixed. That you can’t change it.

Or something like “learning.” That once you get past childhood, it’s difficult to learn.

But this is missing out on a LOT of variables.

Like if you were an adult, and your ONLY job was to learn, and EVERYTHING ELSE was taken care of (just like it was when you were a kid) do you think you’d be able to learn?

Of course you could!

In fact, for most people, that would be a dream come true!

The truth is that YOU have a lot more skills that you think.

You just need to “learn” how to “use” your brain more effectively.

Get Started:

Intelligence Accelerator

What Life Are You Building?

You’ve heard the joke about the plumber, right?

Guy calls a plumber about a leaky pipe in the basement.

Plumber comes, wanders around in the basement for an hour.

Just looking. Then finally he pulls out a wrench, and tightens in one spot.

The leak stops.

The bill was $100. The homeowner was shocked.

Why so much?

All you did was looking around for an hour, and then spend one second tightening something.

The plumber responds, “Five bucks for looking around, ninety five bucks for knowing where to tighten.”

Maybe you’re familiar with the straw that broke the camel’s back?

Now, is it really that ONE straw?

Meaning if the camel was happily walking down the street, with NO straw on it’s back, and that one super magical piece of straw landed on him, would it STILL break his back?

Of course not.

Every piece of straw was JUST as important.

Of course, there’s going to be ONE that puts it over the edge.

Like ONE snowflake is all it takes to start an avalanche, right?

Not really. You also need a crapload of snow piled up in the right configuration.

This is one of the problems with having a conscious mind.

We tend to miss out A LOT of what’s going on.

We see some waitress or waiter get “discovered” and become a famous actor overnight.

What we DON’T see is that same person has been visualizing, dreaming, and actually PRACTICING their whole adult lives.

So when an opportunity comes, they pounce on it.

They are READY.

If you don’t get this, you risk not doing ANY preparation, so when “opportunity” comes you get passed by.

And you wonder why OTHER people are lucky!

Part of “getting lucky” is making yourself READY for opportunities.

Figuring out what you want, and practicing.

At the VERY LEAST you should have three or four LIFE GOALS that you think about once or twice every day.

Hopefully spend some time journaling on.

And if you’re REALLY serious about getting them, you actually DO THINGS on a daily basis that will keep getting you closer.

Life is, after all, a journey.

Not a destination.

Journey’s take time.

Sometimes you get lost.

Sometimes you have to backtrack.

Sometimes you find wonderful things, people and experiences you’ve never heard of before.

But so long as you keep moving forward, you’ll keep getting closer.

You certainly WON’T get closer if you’re waiting for somebody else to tell you what to do, or “discover” you, or “make it easy” for you.

What you DO on a daily basis will slowly ADD UP to your life.

What kind of life are you building?

Your brain is your most precious asset. No matter how smart, insightful, creative you are, you can ALWAYS get better.

Which means you’ll ALWAYS increase your ability to prepare, find and capitalize on opportunities.

Learn More:

Intelligence Accelerator