Dieter Lüske N.D.-D.C.H.-D.M.H.-D.H - Holistic Consultant

Mind-Management

Mind-management (MM) as an expression sounds simple, and management of your mind will be simple, once you know how to use it. Mind-management is made up of two words, mind and management. The combination of mind and management spells success.
If, for a moment we can believe that 100% MM is possible, then the outcome must be 100% success. Now look at yourself, and find out how much MM you have already! To help that process we will look at some of our mis- management habits!

Now ask yourself, how well are you managing your mind, and answer yourself in percentage terms. How much?

If you manage your mind 50%, very good-now you know that your success rate would also be 50%. That's how successful you are! Is that enough success for you?

Now let's go into some distinctions of success. Success can be split up into many parts, and we will all have areas in our life where we are or were 100% successful. As an example, let's say, somebody is 100% successful in business, but only 20% in relationships. Overall the success rate is not that good, and the bad relationships could spoil the success in business. Now, what can we learn from that?
It helps us to look into one area and check what we are doing right, and then check the other areas and see what is missing!

You have to know that if you are capable of being successful in one area in your life, you are also able to be successful in any other area in your life. In other words, we learn to compare our success rate in different areas in our life. We can therefore learn to enhance those areas where we would like to have more success.

Do you want to be successful? If you don't want to be successful, it could simply mean that you have a different definition of what success means! It is not limited to the material world. If you would like to be successful, then ask yourself: "why is it that I am not as successful as I would like to be?" Let's look a little bit closer. The result of good MM is success. We have looked at the result, now let's look into the parts.
The first word is Mind, let's have a good look at our mind!
Have you got a mind? Does anybody not have a mind?
Have you ever been accused of being "out of your mind," or asked "have you lost your mind" and what about "have you got your mind switched on," or even better, "mind over matter" and finally-"never mind."

What all this is indicating in a silly way is, that we actually can do something with our mind, and sometimes it is a relief to switch it off. Whatever state your mind is in now, one thing is for sure, you need to have a mind in order to manage a mind. Would you like to know how the mind works-I mean the ins and outs, what kind of chemical, hormonal, electrical connection and things like that? Yes, this could be interesting, but this is definitely not what we are doing here and I tell you why we don't go into that.
Let me explain. Can you drive a car? Yes? Excellent! Second question: Can you explain or do you know the exact way your car's engine, fuel-injection or whatsoever works? No? That's not too surprising - there is no need to know all those technical details. The main thing is to know how to get your car from point A to point B, and we all can do that very satisfactorily, thank you.
This is the reason we don't have to know how our mind works, the main thing is that we find out how to use it.
Are you interested in driving your mind exactly to the place where you want to go? That means if you know where to go.
What happens if you don't know where to go? You just drive around, wasting time, petrol, energy and other things. Have you ever had a period in your life where you wasted your energy in running around not knowing where to go and what to do, only kept busy by the task of earning a living? Are you in this state right now? 1 think it is brave to be aware and to admit what particular state you are in. There is nothing wrong with where we are at the moment, it's where we are tomorrow that counts.
Coming back to driving a car, have you ever had the experience of driving home after a long day at work, and finding yourself in front of your house, without really remembering how you actually got there?
That means, that you were absolutely sure where to go, and your subconscious mind had all the right messages and data. In an instance like that your conscious mind may daydream, but you still will be safe, and will end up where you are supposed to end up!
Once your subconscious mind knows what you want or where you want to go, it will get you there! 90% of all people don't know what they want. Once you do know what you want, you will believe in you! This is how you will learn what to do with your life. Once you have programmed yourself and know what you want, you will reach your goals, because you have managed your mind and your subconscious in such a way that it will support you. All your actions and behaviours will be directed to what you would like to get out of life.
How does that actually work? Once your mind is programmed, your subconscious mind and your nervous system will do all the hard work. You don't think consciously in order to walk across the room or to move all the right kind of muscles. The same applies to driving a car. You do everything automatically. You have actually programmed yourself throughout your life to be able to do all kinds of automatic responses.
Simply speaking, everything we are good at works by automatic response. Even in public speaking, you will find that once you have programmed yourself, everything just flows from you. If you have to think what to say next, you lose the flow of speech.
Mind-management will teach you how to get automatic responses where you need them.

You can program yourself for success!

Once you have managed your mind for a program, everything will start to happen, as everything in your subconscious mind will support you. Our behaviour, our way of speech, our belief systems, everything is geared for automatic responses. In the same way that we move forward without thinking which muscles to use, we will walk forward to our goals, without thinking which particular step comes next. We all know of the ability of our subconscious mind to guide us.
Let me give you a few examples (and maybe you know a few yourself). Before I became a "Dad", I hardly ever noticed pregnant ladies. As soon as my wife was pregnant, and my mind was programmed towards pregnancy, I saw pregnant ladies absolutely everywhere. I really wondered where they were all coming from.
Another instance is when you read something in a Magazine, about a certain person. All of a sudden, perhaps even on the same day, you hear his name mentioned again, or read more about him a few times.
Do you recognise these kind of responses in yourself? That is exactly what will happen if you have your mind programmed for a certain goal. All of a sudden, things start to happen seemingly automatically. You read something helpful, which otherwise you would have overlooked, and that in turn leads to something else. It's simply the way our awareness works; we see only what we want to see, or what we know already. Open yourself to see more than you know at the present.
By being more focused, you may start to meet new people, who you will then talk to in a different way, and therefore get different responses, and so on, and so on. If, to the contrary your belief system is geared towards. "I can't achieve my goal," then you are managing your mind negatively and your subconscious mind will block out information which could be helpful to you.

How to actually determine a goal, how to set up the right strategy to program your mind to what ever you want, or how to learn to design and create your life and achieve what you want, will all form part of this book.
Let's have a look at Management.
How important is management and are you into management? The answer is, we are all deeply involved in management. Sadly enough more people are into mis-management than into successful management. We actually are managing every little bit we do. When we wake up in the morning, we usually manage to get out of bed. We actually have to manage that, it doesn't work by itself, that's why some people with mismanagement stay in bed. In other words, if we like to have a successful day then we have to manage that all by ourselves. If we rely on other people to manage our lives we will be disappointed most of the time. And so it goes on; your partnership, your family, etc., everything needs management, and with good management you will be successful.
Look around you, do you recognise people, families, businesses, countries with bad or good management? In big business, everything has to be managed to the smallest detail. If not, what do you think will happen to the business? Yes, you are right, - kaput! What will happen to you, if you are not managing your life to the smallest details? Yes the same thing again; - kaput!
So, how important is good management to you?
Where is good management leading to? INTO SUCCESS!
Would you like to be successful? Successful in anything, partnership, family, business and of course in yourself?
Where does success start? Yes, in yourself. Where does it all start? It starts with each individual person. We are responsible for our own management, for what we get out of life. It doesn't matter how successful you are already, the question to ask yourself is: Can I be more successful?
Yes, you can, we always can.
So, the final question then is, (putting both words together, mind and management).
do we need MIND - MANAGEMENT?
After all this, you are supposed to jump out of your chair, and scream YES, I NEED IT!
Can we be without mind-management? NO! Will it help you to believe in you? DEFINITELY!
The result of mind-management will be to manage yourself better than you have ever managed yourself before, all it actually means is taking control, rather than just reacting.
Let's look for a few minutes at the flipside of good mind- management. Let's look at the negative application for mind-management.
If you "sleep in" tomorrow morning in order not to go to work, then you actually have succeeded in managing your mind. It's a pity that you did it in a destructive way, as the outcome will probably be the loss of your job. Interestingly enough, subconsciously that may be what you wanted. Nevertheless, it shows, that you can manage your mind. You just have to use it more constructively and less destructively.
The same thing applies with worry. Some people believe that they are born worriers. Firstly, nobody is born a worrier. You have to adopt that habit (which is, interestingly enough, a form of negative mind-management). Think about that for a moment; if you can manage your mind to worry yourself sick, just imagine what powers you will have if you learn to manage your mind in a more productive way! Think yourself healthy!
From worries we can go straight to habits. All habits are a form of mind-management. Have a look at your habits and sort them out to check whether they are constructive or destructive. Chuck out the destructive ones. How?You may ask. That's part of what this book is about.
OK, let's go on, with our minds switched on and no limits set, but your own, (which you may want to review after reading this book).
This brings us back to the bottom line: You are responsible for your own actions, and finally it will be all up to you. I can tell you a lot, but it is your job to 'switch on' your mind; you have to decide to use it or not.
And to finish the mind-management chapter, let me quote a Zen-story, called "A Cup of Tea."

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured until his visitor's cup was full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the cup overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" - "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculation. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

Did you empty your cup?

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CHAPTER ONE

Accelerated Learning 20 - Summary 25

I lecture in a style which is known as accelerated learning. This will obviously not help you very much while reading this book, but I am sure that you will find the subject very interesting and you will be able to use specific techniques like MIND MAPS. Have you noticed that I ask a lot of questions? Participation is one key to learning.
If you answer my questions, then you are supplying the data for your own growth.
If you supply the data, you will remember the data.
Don't believe that Ihave all the answers.
The difference between knowing and understanding is the difference between reading or hearing something and experiencing it. One way of experiencing is participation and articulation. In order for the mind to digest something, it is not enough to think about it. By articulating what you think, you put meaning to words, which helps you to understand and therefore remember.
How can you use this key for learning?
In future, if you read or study something, have a short break, then ask yourself the right questions and answer aloud! As soon as you have put your own meaning to whatever you have studied, you will remember it and be able to recall it with ease.
The next key is VISUALISATION. I use flip charts for lecturing, and MIND MAPS for my own studies, reading, planning, goal-setting and more or less for everything I do. On these flip charts I use different colours to stimulate visualisation, which in turn stimulates the right side of the brain.
We use about 4-6% of our brain capacity, and this is mainly left side brain use. If we start to use the right side of our brain we can effectively double our brain capacity.
The trusty old left side is serving us very well, and we would not be able to speak without it, as it controls language and mathematical formulae. It is our logic side and it shows us the sequence of things. We also need it for analysis, (altogether pretty important stuff).
Do you like your left brain? Yes? Say "thank you" to you left brain and ask now for permission to use more of the right side of your brain.
The right side is our creative side. It is music and rhythm, imagination, daydreams, forms, patterns, images, pictures and colours. It is also the tune of a song, BUT NOT THE WORDS-that is the left side. This is the reason that singing helps us to bring right and left sides together.
Do you believe that the right side is as important as the left side? Yes, it certainly is. One should not be without the other. The power comes from teamwork, working together, each helping the other. The right side will show you the big picture, the left side the details. Having one without the other may be the big difference between being successful or unsuccessful.
What can you do to stimulate the right side of the brain? Colour, showing the big picture, the overview, asking questions to stimulate your imagination and of course music.
The music we are using is BAROQUE MUSIC, as this music is written in sixty beats per second. WHAT DOES THAT MUSIC RESEMBLE? Yes, the heartbeat in a state of relaxation.
Which brings us to relaxation. Do you learn better when in a relaxed state of mind? Yes. You can concentrate and think much better when you are relaxed. There is a reason for it. We have four different kinds of brainwaves. We will concern ourselves mainly with two of them.
The first one is called BETA WAVE which has a frequency of 14-21 cycles per second and is the wave we use in our ordinary waking state. The BETA WAVE, will increase in times of stress. If it rises as high as 60 cycles per second you will become hysterical. If it goes much higher than that you will black out.
The second one is called ALPHA, with a frequency of 7-14 cycles per second, and that is the state of relaxed alertness. You are calm and peaceful, with clear creative thinking. Ideas, solutions and intuitive breakthroughs occur, and studies are easy. In this state you can reach your full potential. That is the state we desire. This is what we want for learning or for painting! By the way, this is also the state for body regeneration, increased health and vitality.
Cancer patients have used this alpha state to regenerate and to refocus their attitudes and belief systems through relaxation and meditation. This is why we should put ourselves into a relaxed state before doing any mental work.

I don't want to spend twenty minutes of your time putting you into a relaxed state. What you will do instead is to give your subconscious mind a message that you are giving yourself permission to relax. This will take only three minutes-are you ready?
Please sit comfortably, and as you sit comfortably, allow yourself to relax and take a deep breath ..... yesss--and hold it ..... and breathe out ...... yes, gooood, and again, an even deeper breath, and hold it ..... collect all your tensions and breathe out letting go of those tensions ..... and the last deep breath ..... yes and holding, holding and breathing out letting go the rest of your tension ...... that's good, fine, and as you sit in your chair you can continue to relax.....becoming more and more relaxed, giving all your muscles permission to relax ..... and telling yourself-I allow myself to relax, its OK, I am safe and secure in my present situation ...... from now on, whenever I sit here in this room and hear this music I am relaxed. (Play some Baroque music while reading).
Thank you, slowly open your eyes and keep that relaxed feeling.

Before we go into mind maps, some more points on the accelerated lecturing style. There is a reason that a lecturer walks around or stands while you sit. The act of your looking up stimulates learning and visualisation. In fact you experience a learning increase of about 25% by just looking up. You will have a further learning increase if you use the right body language-that is sitting relaxed, arms and legs uncrossed. You simply will open yourself up that way.

Next we will talk about MIND MAPS, and after that I will list a number of techniques to further increase your learning and your retention ability.

MIND MAPS-FLIP CHART With whatever you study or read, you can start from now on to take your notes in a mind map style. Have some paper and coloured pens ready. (I usually use the paper horizontally, but you can use it whichever way you choose). You should have at least, red, blue, green, black pens and yellow is nice to highlight certain areas.
Our brains do not work in a linear fashion. We can work better if we jump from one place to another, connecting messages with lines or drawings.
The more colourfully, humourously and meaningfully you can do it, the better the result.
You will remember outstanding things much more clearly than dull things.
Remember; one picture is worth a thousand words.
Mind maps are not only for studying, they are a perfect tool for organising, planning or developing business strategies. You will not find a better way to prepare speeches or business meetings. For everything you have to remember you can design a mind map.
Start by writing the main heading in the middle, and continue to put sub-headings around it, in whatever fashion feels right to you.
Your first mind map can be about mind maps and accelerated learning itself. This will be like a short rehearsal of this lecture.

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ACCELERATED LEARNING PART 2
SUMMARY

Uploaded;15.04.2001 - ©

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