Our Amazing Brain

Wow, what an incredible machine we all have and often take for granted. I’m talking about the human brain and it does so much more than we fully realize. Even as I write this, I have to stop and take note of the fact that my brain knows where each key on my computer is located to the point that I don’t even have to think about it. Likewise, when we are sleeping, the brain continues to work without our input. Then, when we are awake, we can, again, choose what we want to think about.

When I decide to accomplish a particular thing, I can think about it and set my sights on it, keeping my decision and the steps I need to get there in my mind. I can set a goal with a time frame on it and most of the time I can reach that goal, mainly because of the powerful machine in my head.

When we take a big look at the world, we can see what the human brain has been able to come up with. It came up with the automobile, airplanes, rocket ships, computers, space stations, and even heart replacement surgery! And that’s just a tiny list of the amazing things it can invent.

I’m very, very impressed by the brain’s ability to remember things, especially my wife’s. She remembers everything and with so many details that I am constantly surprised. On the other hand, the older I get, the less my brain remembers, although it’s still amazing.

The change, however, has motivated me to find various methods to kick it into gear. One that works really well for me is when I am trying to remember a person’s name that I haven’t seen or talked to in a very long time. I mentally go through the alphabet and usually, when I come to the first letter of their name, bingo, I remember it. For example, I was trying to think of a tennis friend in Kauai that I hadn’t seen in sometime so I started going through the alphabet and, wow, the first letter did it. His name was Al.

So, how do we wake up the power of our mind and intentionally and productively choose what we think about? To start, we all need to be conscious of what we are putting into our brain. What kind of information do you feed it? Do you give it challenges and problems to figure out to keep it agile? And what do you eat to keep your brain healthy?

There are a lot of ways to support your amazing brain. But the first thing you need to do is decide to intentionally take care of it and make it a priority. Once you’ve done that, be on the lookout for ways to keep it fit, healthy, and amazing.

I’ll talk more about what you can do to keep your brain fit and healthy in next week’s post.

Embrace the Struggle

Think about this:

How would you feel if you played a game of golf tomorrow and shot a perfect score—that is, you shot par on every single hole? How would the inside of your head handle that experience, especially if it was your very first time playing golf?

Understandably, you most likely would feel fantastic initially. How high on the satisfaction scale would that golf score put you? I’d say pretty much at the top! Contentment? Oh, yes, you’d be pretty darn content. Satisfaction? Yes, huge amounts of that!

But how long would those feelings last? I’m afraid that, for most people, it would not last very long.

The fact is a perfect score =no fun.

I bet your reaction to that statement is, at first, “No way! A perfect score is what I’d be after so, of course it’d be fun!”

But let’s fast-forward a week. Let’s say you played golf a second time and, again, got that perfect par score. How would you feel at that time? Sure, you’d still feel pretty good, right?

Now, let’s say that you continue to shoot a perfect par score every time, no matter what golf course you played. How do you think you would feel if it continued that way, where a perfect score became absolutely routine for you? Would you continue to feel content and satisfied?

Not likely. Now why is that?

The thing is, we really don’t appreciate things unless we’ve worked for them. That’s one of the reasons that almost all lottery winners end up miserable. They didn’t have to work for that money, so there’s nothing to be proud of by gaining it. We just don’t value or derive much satisfaction from things in our lives that we didn’t have to struggle with, fight for, or otherwise work hard to have and achieve.

We do much better, are happier and more content, when we are challenged and, especially when we overcome the challenges! Like with that imaginary first game of golf where you got a perfect score. It would have been super exciting then because you didn’t know you could do it, actually probably assumed you’d play terribly, but you would have tried your best, making that perfect score feel well-earned! After that though, you would know you could do it, so it would become less and less exciting.  

Now let’s say you decided to be a golf pro in 5 years. Lots of people would say you can’t do that. But if you work really hard, golf every chance you get, and take lessons from the absolute best trainers, you might just get to go pro before those 5 years were up. Now, think about how THAT would feel! It would be beyond amazing, right? Better than a surprise perfect score first game even.

You see, we just love beating the odds and achieving really hard things. It makes us feel accomplished and of value to ourselves and others. We also get to tell the stories of our struggles and how we reached our goals!

So, next time you find yourself wishes things were easy, that you could win all the time, and that things you want would just fall in your lap, remember that you won’t be all that happy if that’s how things always went for you. Embrace the challenges and look forward to your hard won accomplishments!

Pay It Forward

This past week, my wife Kimberly and I drove around Salt Lake City to maybe see some houses or office buildings that we had not seen before. As you probably know, the mind craves novelty even when it’s as simple as driving through a new or rarely seen neighborhood.

Kimberly chose to drive down a street where we used to live. We decided we’d like to meet the people living at our old house. When we knocked, a young, good-looking guy came to the door. We told him we used to live there, and we’d like to take a little look around. Before we went into the house, however, Kimberly said, “Hey, Mark, why don’t you go to the car and give him one of your books?” 

I did, and when I gave it to the young man, he looked surprised and said, “I know your name.” He quickly retreated into the house and brought out a book called Pay It Forward, co-authored by Brian Tracy and several other experts, including himself.

What a coincidence! I have known Brian Tracy for years. He was a top-notch motivational speaker at some of my seminars. Not only was he super successful and a superb writer and speaker, but he was also a super nice guy.

The young co-author we meet was Daryl L. Kemsley. His section in the book was “Driven By a New Purpose”. In it he writes about taking “Three Steps Forward” which I thought could be very helpful for a lot of people. I’d suggest that you get the book and read about his three steps:

Step 1. Sacrifice helps you embrace what you deserve in life and business. 

Step 2. The principles of building a business are consistent.

Step 3. When you listen for it, you will find the people that need you the most.

Pay It Forward is an excellent little book and Brain presents a lot of great subjects in his chapter, “Create Your Own Future” including:

• Think About the Future
• Become a Millionaire
• Create a Five-Year Fantasy
• Imagine No Limitations
• Practice Blue Sky Thinking
• Refuse to Compromise Your Dreams

That is to name just a few of what he writes about that can be so helpful to a person’s life. I sure remember when he spoke at our seminars and how the audience loved what he had to share. You could tell they knew it would be very, very helpful to in their lives. Go out and find the book and buy it. You won’t be sorry. 

The Impact of a Few Words

Throughout my life, I’ve looked to others for great knowledge and inspiration. A lot of the wonderful advice and ideas I’ve found have been in books but sometimes, just a few words can really lift my life when I take time to think about them.

Here are a few favorite quotes that I believe can really help us all if we stop to think about how they apply to our own lives.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. ~Socrates

The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. ~Robert Cushing

The searching out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man. ~Cicero

The only journey is the journey within. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Know thyself means this: that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do. ~Menander

Yes, know thyself: in great concerns or small, Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all. ~Juvenal

Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous. ~Abd-el-Kadar

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old. ~Lord Chesterfield

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour instead of idling it away? ~Lord Chesterfield

Follow your honest convictions and stay strong. ~William Thackeray

He that will not reflect is a ruined man. ~Asian Proverb

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow. ~Doug Firebaugh

So what do you think? Did one or two, or maybe all of these, make you stop and think? Did you discover something you’ve needed to learn but maybe didn’t know you needed? Whatever quote or quotes really struck you, take them to heart this week and see how just a few words can really lift your life.