Personal Mastery
PERSONAL
MASTERY
In today’s
contemporary world of hectic work schedules and overwhelming personal
commitments it is hard to find the purpose of going through the routine every
day. The purpose as to why we toil hard and the answer to the simple yet difficult
to answer question of whether we are truly happy and successful.
Even though we all
work hard and strive to achieve our purpose, very few achieve the true success
in life. To support the above statement, if success can be measured in terms of
wealth, then factually 99% of world’s wealth is concentrated with 4% of world
population. Why does it happen that only a handful of people achieve what they
truly want in life? What is the mantra to have a happy and successful life? This
article puts forth an idea of controlling your actions and emotions to achieve
success and happiness thru the science and art of PERSONAL MASTERY1.
Mastering your actions
Are human beings
simple or complicated? Do they take decisions based on emotions or logical
thinking? Can they be programmed? Surely the first things that comes to our
mind is we are super beings who are very complicated and take most of the
decisions based on logical thinking and of course we cannot be programmed. Let
us revisit this notion.
According to the
triune brain theory2 by Paul Maclean in 1960, our brain can be
divided into three main parts, the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain, and
the human brain. The reptilian brain works on an autopilot mode and interacts
with the mammalian brain to give rise to actions – Fight or flight. The
mammalian brain stores various memories, emotions and habits and takes
decisions. The human brain, the smartest of all, controls the language,
abstract thought, imagination and conscience. Surprisingly the boss of all these
brains is the reptilian brain which acts on flight or fight and hence like any
digital gadget that we use in daily life all our actions depend on binary - two
basic emotions – PAIN or PLEASURE. All our lives we strive to run away from
pain (depression, grief, hatred, anger etc.) and run towards pleasure
(happiness, love, pride etc.). Think about it and try gauge yourself to find a
single action that is not governed by either of the above.
The reptilian brain is
influenced by the mammalian brain which stores memories. Memories of
experiences which either gave pain or pleasure. For example if the action of
going to gym has given you the pleasure of compliments from your friends and
colleagues, good physique and healthy body but also gave you the pain of body
ache and getting up early in the morning then your reptilian brain will act on
going to gym again based on which emotion was dominant. Hence to program
yourself to visit the gym you need to build up the experiences of pleasure and
minimize the experiences of pain.
To achieve success and
happiness in your life you need to chalk down the activities you want to
achieve in your life and associate experiences of pleasure so that your
reptilian brain syncs in with your goals to act and achieve those activities.
Controlling your
emotions
Emotional mastery is
the key to living a life that you direct. The capacity to have absolute direct
power over what you feel in every single moment—no matter what happens around
you—is one of the most important skill sets you can have.
There are three forces
in the world that determine what you feel. These forces are called the Triad. The
triad2 is physiology, language and focus. Together, these three
patterns create any—and every—emotional state.
Whatever you feel,
you’re not feeling it because you have to feel it. You’re feeling it because
you’ve chosen from the Triad. In order to master your emotions and consciously
choose the emotions you want to live in, you need to understand these three
forces and how to use them to your advantage.
Mastering Physiology:
Emotion is created by motion. Whatever you’re feeling right now is directly
related to how you’re using your body. If you slump your shoulders and lean
your head forward, you’ll move toward a state of depression. However, the next
time you find yourself in a negative state, stand up, throw your shoulders back
and take a few deep breaths. You’ll find that you’re able to put yourself in a
resourceful state. From this state, you can make stronger decisions and enjoy a
sense of certainty that will keep you calm in the face of uncertainty.
Mastering Language:
Language comes in many
forms one of which includes the questions you ask yourself, either aloud or
subconsciously. If you ask, “Why does this always have to happen to me?” you’ll
create a much different set of emotions than if you asked, “How can I benefit
from this?” or “Where’s the gift in this?” or “What’s humorous about this?”
The language patterns
you run play a significant role in the meaning you tag to a situation—and the
emotion that situation gives rise to in you. When you feel negative emotions
taking over, look at the language pattern surrounding the situation. How can
you modify it to create a more empowering state?
Mastering Focus:
Where focus goes, energy
flows. And where there is a flow of energy, whatever you’re focusing on becomes
easy to achieve. In other words, your life is controlled by what you focus on.
That’s why you need to focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.
Mastering your actions and emotions by the above given
techniques will definitely take you to the alpha category of successful people
in this world.
Bibliography
1The article is written based on training on personal mastery
developed by “the change forum”
2From www.mybrainnotes.com
3From https://training.tonyrobbins.com
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