There’s a secret ability of successful people that not many know and even fewer will tell you. Nearly all successful, self-made individuals have mastered the art of silencing or at least slowing down their mind. It is believed that we think anywhere between 60,000 to 100,000 [mostly] useless thoughts everyday. It’s like a monkey that lives in your mind, jumping from one thought to another, pointlessly and endlessly. By unleashing a cascade of crippling thoughts, this monkey robs you of your innate ability to live a happy, successful life. So, unless you tame this monkey, you will forever nurture self-doubt, fear and uncertainty.
As your mind is freed from the reign of the monkey, you begin to see possibilities you hitherto didn’t think existed. New vistas open up as unnecessary and self-defeating thoughts and beliefs pave way for clarity. The iconic entrepreneur Steve Jobs once said, “If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things—that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before.”
But gagging your mind’s monkey requires that you first understand it; after all, it’s part of your own consciousness. This month, acclaimed author Danny Gregory escorts you into your mind and introduces you to the troublemaker that has been living there for as long as you can remember. He tells you from where the monkey came and how it established itself firmly in the deep recesses of your mind. “The monkey is a formidable foe. It is more devious than you and it has plenty of time on its hands. It can use everything you know against you, push every button, pull every lever, and it is unrelenting,” says Danny as he explains how the monkey, pretending to be your friend and well-wisher, fabricates stories to push you towards self-sabotage. He then flashes his torchlight on the dark corners of your mind to enable you to see and face the annoying ape that has held you back from your joys.
Once the mischief maker is exposed, you begin to understand the tricks it has employed to keep you stuck in a hamster wheel as you keep running but going nowhere in life. It’s now time to disembark from the worthless wheel and proceed in the direction of your goals and dreams. Of course the monkey will put up a fight, but worry not. The author gives you practical strategies to fight back—and win—against this formidable opponent.
As you resolve to no longer allow your strings to be pulled by this invisible inner critic, its defeat is inevitable. After all, it derives all its power from you. So read the full story here and seize back your power.