Are you struggling to find your confidence?
Do you want to be more confident at work?
Do you feel as though you’ve lost touch with who you are?
Are you struggling to passionately follow your intuition?
Read on and find out that what you are experiencing is a poor mindset, and learn how to shift your mind to align with who you are or who you want to be. I touch on elements of thinking, understanding and practical action to help you develop your confidence in knowing thyself.
Today I found myself in a very fortunate position; a few peers have recently been facing difficult challenges in their lives, and are finding it difficult to navigate with all the noise around them. They felt comfortable in sharing their difficulties with the group and I felt compelled to share some of my own personal experiences and thoughts. I was so lucky to have been given the platform to be open and free in sharing relevant stories about myself as a way of giving them the opportunity to learn and find their own answers.
I found the experience so profound and meaningful that I decided to write about our discussion and share it with others who may find it impactful and insightful. I decided to associate everything we discussed with the term “Mind Shift” as I feel this best defines the discussion we had.
I have recently been doing a lot of research, testing and measuring of myself; particularly in the spaces of neuroscience and neuropsychology. In simple terms; I have been exploring aspects of my mindset, thoughts and beliefs. I have been learning about negative thoughts, fears and the power in overcoming these thoughts, as well as solidification in my thoughts and how to consistently be in the thought space of abundance.
I have found, especially during periods of meditation, that what the mind conceives, the mind will believe. In my most recent article How to Operate in a World of Resistance & Obstacles, I touched on a story about “The Fight of Two Wolves Within You” and believe that in this article, the story could not be more relevant and true. The story begins as follows:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Each and every one of us have two wolves that live within. In simple terms, one wolf is good and the other is bad and they are both hungry for attention. In order for these wolves to eat, we only need to think of the correlating thoughts and emotions associated with each wolf, giving our chosen thought and wolf the power over the other.
In more context; the evil wolf is fed through emotions such as anger, envy, sorrow and regret, while the good wolf is fed through emotions such as joy, peace, love, hope and compassion. Each correlating thought gives one wolf the strength to overcome the other wolf, with each choice starting with you, and the wolf you choose to feed.
With everything, there will always be light in the darkness and darkness in the light, as they both live together, harmoniously. This is known as yin and yang.
Yin and Yang is “Two halves that together complete wholeness. Yin and yang are also the starting point for change. When something is whole, by definition, it’s unchanging and complete. So when you split something into two halves — yin/yang, it upsets the equilibrium of wholeness. Both halves are chasing after each other as they seek a new balance with each other.”
“The yin-yang philosophy says that the universe is composed of competing and complementary forces of dark and light, sun and moon, male and female.” With context to the previous extract, yin and yang perfectly resembles the fight between two wolves. Mind Shifting uses the exact same philosophy; you are what you think about all day long.
Similarly, with reference to The Law of Attraction, we learn how we attract what we not only think, but also what we feel. “As I connect with the one, all knowing, all loving and ever present Universal Intelligence (God if you will) I open myself to unlimited possibilities.”
This further leads me onto the profound quote from Marianne Williamson which encompasses the human potential and The Law of Attraction.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Simply put, The Law of Attraction states that you will attract into your life whatever you focus on. Whatever you give your energy and attention to will come back to you. So, if you stay focused on the good and positive things in your life, you will automatically attract more good and positive things into your life. If you are focused upon lack and negativity, then that is what will be attracted into your life. If you feed the evil wolf, you will attract darkness and if you feed the good wolf you will attract lightness and become light.
Once you find a grasp on the concepts above, you can begin to align yourself with what your desires and dreams are. This process can take time and it will require conscious effort and practice. Once it becomes a way of life, you will begin to develop a relationship and understanding with your mind and how to overcome the darkness that consumes us all.
If you feel you are not able to grasp control of your mind, try and explore meditation. It’s a sad reality that only three years ago I would have laughed at people like me. I was driven by my ego and would judge those who meditated and who practiced mindfulness. However, I now believe that without it, I would not have been able to understand so much about myself and others around me.
Meditation can be defined as “the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed.”
If you do not know where to begin, have a look at the following link to “Guided Meditation” which will help you through the process.
In closing, it’s mindful to note that we all start somewhere. This is not a competition with anyone else but yourself. The topics discussed in the article are aimed to help you learn more about who you are; building your awareness and confidence of your own identity. I have realised that with knowing thyself, you become a confident being, which is felt and heard throughout all spheres of your life. In finding balance, you no longer let negativity run your life and you no longer feed the dark wolf; you feed both. Learning to understand that lightness and darkness must both thrive harmoniously, is learning to accept that each day will bring its own learnings.
When you begin to embrace the obstacles and the opportunities and learn to love them equally, you can begin to take control of your mindset and your life.
