The Importance Of The Mind
Your thoughts, mindset and how you approach the world around you determine your well-being and success. Physical well-being is important—you must take care of your health and lead an active life. But, ultimately, it is the state of your mind that decides how happy you are.
Extremely healthy people in peak physical condition can be completely distraught if they are not mentally tough and strong. On the contrary, there are innumerable examples of people with physical comorbidities or disabilities who lead happy and satisfactory lives because of their positive outlook.
To reason logically and understand what goes on in your mind when you are strategically thinking about the success of a project, your mental toughness comes to the fore. It is, therefore, crucial to have a working knowledge of how your mind works. Reasoning logically will help you learn about the biases and fallacies that affect your thinking and how you can overcome these. If you want to manage your mindset, it helps to understand what goes on inside your head.
The Brain And The Mind
The human brain is like a sophisticated computer. It is like top class hardware—it has all the storage, memory and processing power you need to function as a human being. Your mind or your thought process is akin to the software that uses this hardware. The operating system gathers, stores and manages information, using the massive processing resources of your brain.
But unlike in the physical world—where one can differentiate between a piece of hardware and written software—it is difficult to separate the brain from the mind. The distinction is apparent when an intervention is required to treat an anomaly. If there is something wrong with our brain—which is a real physical organ—we approach it with medical prescriptions and, at times, surgical procedures. However, there is no physical surgery that can deal with correcting our thoughts and feelings. They require counseling sessions and therapeutic processes, and yes, at times, some form of clinical intervention.
The brain contains approximately 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, that make up our central nervous system. These neurons transmit and receive electrochemical signals, our thoughts, emotions, actions and the automatic functions that keep us alive.
- The Conscious Mind
Scientists believe that our conscious minds make up less than 10% of the mind’s total operational power. Our conscious minds are usually responsible for assimilating, assessing and processing data that we collect through our five basic senses, sorting out patterns, making comparisons and directing our thought processes. When something is in our conscious mind, it is deliberate—and we are fully aware of it.
- The Unconscious Mind
The other 90% of our mind functions in a state of unconsciousness. The unconscious mind is potent. It protects you by maintaining a continuous status quo. Your imagination and creativity stems from your unconscious mind. It is also where we create our habits—it stores your memories, feelings and emotions.
The Importance Of Knowing How The Mind Works
Ultimately, it is awareness that allows us to control how to use the combined power of our conscious and unconscious minds. It will enable us to think in a healthy, resilient and positive way to help us succeed in our lives. The many benefits include improved self-worth, self-esteem and the courage to face the toughest challenges—whether in our personal or professional lives. We learn ways to protect ourselves against emotional turmoil, apply examples of critical thinking to make effective decisions and develop the remarkable ability to achieve our goals.
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