Fear has a significant impact on our decision-making and success. It regularly comes up within my basketball and leadership coaching paths. As I've thought about the concept more, I've focused on the differences between the brain and the mind. This is not from a scientific view of whether they are connected or not but from standpoint of practical application.
The brain appears to be simply an organ that manages and coordinates the various functions of the body - the nervous and autonomic system, storing and retreival of memory and learnings, moving our body around, adding 2 + 2, etc. It is more capable (especially with the math and computational functions) than the brains of other animals on Earth. But at its essence, it really serves the same purpose - to allow us to function and stay alive.
The mind, on the other hand, is a completely different entity, practically speaking. I believe it is the mind that makes us unique as a species. It is much more developed (I won't say evolved) than that of other animals. The mind gives us the ability to create wonderful works or art, literature and music. To understand the concept of time. To experience love and to ponder the essence of existence.
However, as a friend and Afila Group member mentioned to me during a conersation, "The mind is a useless tool." The mind, for most people, is very undisciplined. People, such as Buddhist monks, spend much of their lifetimes dedicated to harnessing and focusing the mind. It is the mind that convinces us that driving a motorcycle without proper protection is a good idea, that the ends always justify the means, that it can keep the brain and the body from performing at its capability and potential.
Our mind does more harm than good when it comes to business and relationships, as well. Fear, ego, indecisiveness, politics and so many other destructive actions which have their origins in our mind overwhelm what our brains, logic and evidence indicate are reasonable paths. The mind compels us to make poor decisions or no decision. It freezes us to the point where we stop trying to reach goals, exercise, develop our capabilities, etc. We can't Respect our environment and see things again. Sometimes, we can't even seen in front of our own face.
Think of this... How many times have you heard in your company (or in your own mind), "Oh, we can't do that." Or, "That won't work." There are countless people within organizations, even entire organizational cultures that are based on finding ways to NOT do something. Our individual and collective minds get in the way of doing good things.
So, how can you combat Fear and be more effective at work and in your personal life. Needless to say, these are all inward looking as you can't depend on adjusting others actions and behavior if you aren't living it yourself.
- Remember, always, Loving yourself enough to take practical control of your mind is a process and a journey. You are not going to gain complete control of your mind, your fears or your doubts. However, to be able to have your mind Serve you when needed and be a positive force for you should be a goal that is achievable.
- Go into interactions with others with the mindset that all parties want a positive outcome. Serve others and the objective rather than going into interactions with an adversarial frame of mind that will hamper your ability to think clearly and add to relationships.
- Be the person that engages in "yes, and" behavior, striving towards positive outcomes. You may fail to sway people at the beginning. However, over time, people will expect to hear this from you and come up with ideas to further conversations.
- Continue training your brain to handle the tasks that it can do well even better. The more the brain takes on, the less the mind has to micro-manage. It can then free itself to the creative things that inspire us.
- Be willing to fail. With the youth basketball teams I coach, I implore the boys to make mistakes and push to failure. They cannot expect to expand and get better if they don't push themselves past their comfort zone. As long as you learn something from the experience, it's not a complete failure.
How do you manage your mind and allow yourself to become more capable?