Once you realize that you are not your mind, but that you 'have' it and that it is simply a programmable machine, then you can take charge of it, not by fighting it, but by simply feeding it new programs, repeated until thoroughly installed. This is not rocket science! It is doable, totally. (It is, however, brain science, not some mystical New Age concept!)
The BuddhaKahuna
Your treasured psychology and beliefs are strictly mechanical - and can be vastly improved to create a much better life! In other words, your psychology is just a set of procedures that can be changed - especially the procedures that don't work no matter how many times you use them!!!!
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YOU ARE RUN BY MECHANICAL PATTERNS
Everything you do (and think, which is a "doing") is a result of a mechanical sequence/pattern that leads up to it.
Everything results from a mechanical sequence.
You can do nothing without that. (Of course, it can be an unconscious procedure or even a sequence within a cell or body part - but it is all a procedure.)
Thank goodness we have so many procedural patterns that are built into our genes to run our bodies and minds. That gives us a basis for operating.
However, we are, uniquely, capable however of devising patterns (and ways of explaining things and what to do about them) and procedures on what to do to handle a particular circumstance or occurrence.
Surely, we would not have a well running company if it did not have sensible, well-constructed, effective procedures and systems. The same goes for any "organization", including the "organization" (organism) that you are.
If a company has sloppy cash control procedures, then money disappears. If a company has poor procedures for quality control in production, it produces bad product.
Pretty simple.
And you must, absolutely must, know that your life turns out at the quality level of your programs (procedural sequences in the thought area) and procedures on what to do and how to do it.
Therefore, it is always good to notice what doesn't work and then to devise new programs and procedures that do work. And, of course, you can tell if something works by whether or not it achieved the result you would want.
Pretty simple. Very true.
It is the revision of those programs and procedures (and learning a procedures to revise them well) that is the key to living a good, workable life.
Pretty simple.
WHAT IS A PROCEDURE? WHAT IS A PROGRAM?
The definition of a procedure: A series of steps taken to accomplish an end. (In a company, it is a set of instructions to accomplish an end result.)
The definition of a program: A set of coded instructions that enables a machine, especially a computer, to perform a desired sequence of operations.
The definition of a system: A set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, in particular. A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.
A program is a procedure and a system in the computer brain on what to think and how to feel.
1. See tiger.
2. Sort for what "tiger" means.
3. Determine significance relative to survival/pain or pleasure.
4. Think (see related patterns) "it means I could die." "I am afraid of dying. I want to live."
5. Think of a procedure that will save me: Run like hell! Body pattern related to danger: creates adrenaline and a sequence to be motivated and better to run - called an 'emotion'.
There's more to that program, as many patterns are fired off and sorted, but that's the idea.
If you want a good program or procedure, then you "write" them from the instigation (event suggesting they are needed - e.g. "receive cash") and then all the steps to get it securely into the holding place for the money (safely, recorded, controlled, etc.).
Success is a program, though there are various versions. But if you are missing a key step, you'll end up like a lot of people who are doing many of the right things but still not succeeding.
A number of other programs are discussed below...
ALL THINKING IS FIRED-OFF PROGRAMS
Thinking, of course, is a process that is the result of the sequencing of a program that is fired off to fit the circumstance - and/or simply a series of patterns running through the brain at random but with no real meaning. Part of thinking is screening the patterns that go through the brain to see if they should be ignored or considered to be acted upon. Since there are millions of potential stimuli and thoughts happening in a short period, your brain has a procedure to sort out most of them, such as the reticular activating system that causes you to pay attention to what is more important.
There is a special sub-organization in the left prefrontal cortex that can be mechanically developed to operate its program much better to screen out what is untrue and/or not meaningful - that center is made more capable by repeating the procedures involved in meditating. This is also your happiness center, which explains why neuroscientist Richard Davidson calls the Tibetan Buddhist Monks the happiest people on earth. (See Rewiring The Brain.)
ALL neuronal patterns/thoughts/beliefs devised after birth can be reprogrammed and corrected. They are just patterns and we can run a new sequence that, if repeated enough times, overrides the old pattern and installs a new habitually brought forward new pattern that serves one better. In an incorrect neuronal pattern, many people think that patterns are permanent and that they are a "certain way" - a hugely erroneous program!
THE PROCEDURE OF MANAGING ONE'S STATE
It is vital that you develop procedures to manage your state, because it determines how well you'll operate your machinery, how "alive" you are, and how effective your brain is.
Some people have procedures that are poor choices, with some of them working in the short term but causing harm in the long term. If they are not aware of the alternatives and the way things work, then they'll implement procedures that result in undesired results.
If one has a limited, ignorant (but common) set of poor strategies/procedures, then one constantly produces undesired results. For instance, to relieve a feeling of discomfort, one might:
Eat (probably sugar)
Distract oneself (TV, harmful behaviors)
Drink
Take drugs
They do that instead of devising more detailed procedures based on better knowledge. If they knew more, they might just do a one minute sequence of movements that energized them and moved their state up considerably so their energy was higher and their brain was working better, besides feeling better. See State Management. It is interesting to note how easy it is to change one's state - and that many people think it isn't valid to change how they feel through just movement, as they think they should have to go deeper and maybe resolve problems. Many of these people do not succeed in doing the latter, so they use the poor primary procedures listed first above.
Though your initial response might be that the following is not true, it is absolutely true, as it cannot occur any other way:
Anger (an emotion felt) is a result of a usually inappropriate procedure/program.
Panic is a poor procedure/program, using subroutine programs that are built into the body but triggered by poor programs devised to deal with life, usually as a child.
Feeling bad (an emotion or a "valence" [value category of a feeling]) is the result of a poor program involving thought and believed (which is a program) to be caused by the initial trigger - wrong! Most feeling bad can be simply eliminated - and is totally unnecessary, though many people think it is.
DAILY TIME MANAGEMENT
It is fairly well known that time management and planning is full of procedures that make one more effective in life. But few people do it at a level that is effective - so they waste lots of their time and life, during which they could have more enjoyment, happiness, and fulfillment.
Daily time management requires that one think carefully about how to utilize one's day. So, a number of people do "to do" lists, but do not schedule the items in or prioritize well or delete what is unnecessary. And they do not use "mind instigators", such as:
What has to happen today to have me feel good about today? (This changes the activities to what will have one feel more accomplished but also causes the addition of self-care, enjoyment, or happiness activities.) I also use "now what can I do today that will add to my day?", which is just a variation. (See Daily Planning, including some possible formats.)
USEFUL LEARNING
Should you bother to learn more?
Yes, if you don't have all your key procedures working for the results you want - or if you don't have what you want and/or are not being who you want. Then you need to learn what it takes to produce what you want and to set up a procedure to do it.
Notice that there is a procedure for learning well and many procedures for not learning well.
strategies are procedures...
