Be in control of your mind

The mind is usually compared to an unharnessed horse. It tends to run here and there unless you control it.

Once, a student was given a mathematics problem to be solved in three minutes. The student, well known for his poor concentration habits, tried to solve the problem several times. Every time he tried to do so, he was reminded of his favourite television program, football practice in the evening, his injured knee, his English lessons, meeting his girlfriend, his role in the school play, and the nagging feeling that he should go for a cool drink at the cafe. Thus, even at the end of three minutes, his mathematical problem remained unsolved.

The average student, clerk, typist or any employee who has had no mind training may face the same problem. Sadly, they never think for a moment why they are flitting from moment to moment without making any attempt to change their thinking habits.

In your waking hours your mind receives many ideas. It is your job to select which ideas you should tackle for the moment. Otherwise, be prepared to face a chaotic situation. You will grapple with one idea for a minute or two and then think of another idea in the same way. Finally, when there is no progress in your life, you will feel exhausted and frustrated. If you really care to succeed in life, tackle one idea seriously giving it all your energy and concentration. If it is really unworkable, move on to another problem.

Remember that your mind has a dual function. It naturally reacts to praise and criticism. Meanwhile, it will rapidly flit and shift from one idea to another.

If your mind fails to remain focused on a given idea, you need some help from a psychologist. In the alternative, if your mind rejects to be activated by one subject, skip to a new topic that interests you. This cannot, however, be done overnight. You need constant practice over a long period of time.

Thinking trends can vary from person to person. As you are aware, some of us are "scatterbrains" who have no developed powers of concentration. The tragedy is that even scatterbrains accept their condition without making an attempt to change their mind set-up. Sometimes, they leave it to fate and go on with their activities quite unmindful of their weak mind and poor concentration powers.

Thinking, like any other activity, is a habit that can be changed or improved. The world's great thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Immanuel Kant had trained their minds over a long period.

The tendency to think effectively can arise in a specific situation. For instance, while you travel in a long distance train, a major disaster may take place. Then your mind will be on red alert trying to find a way out of the dangerous situation that might follow. As a result, you will have a solution within seconds. This happens in extreme situations. But in normal situations your mind is deactivated and you will not use it fully.

Teachers are fully aware that some students are mentally dull. They cannot be activated into any meaningful activity. However, according to some research studies in the West, such students have been found to be of superior mental abilities. Their dull behaviour in the classroom could have been caused by faulty thinking habits.

Most of us tend to drift with the tide of our thinking. That means, you allow your mind to do whatever it wants. This absence of control over the mind can lead to many problems in your life. For instance, all of a sudden, you will get a bright idea of following a course of studies at a reputed institute.

Before you think of the next step, you are reminded of the birthday party of a close friend. Then you want to buy him a gift. Now you are thinking of the shops where you could buy a decent birthday present.

At the end of the day, you will find that you have completely forgotten everything about following a course of studies.

If you have a definite chief aim in life, your mind will not go astray. An aim in life is something worth having because it will help you to concentrate on your work. If you have no such definite chief aim in life, try to find one. These aims could be achieved only through hard work and positive thinking. The greater your thinking and concentration powers, the sooner and more fruitful your achievements.

Having an aim in life is not something beyond your power. Unless you keep postponing it or running away from it, you can have an aim. Here, I am reminded of a student who had the following words written boldly on the wall of his room: "I am a Junior Doctor."

He saw these words many times every day and his chief aim in life was that he wanted to be a doctor. Eventually, he passed his Advanced Levels with flying colours and proceeded to a foreign university to do his medical studies.

In order to achieve anything worthwhile, you need to have loads of patience, powers of concentration, and a firm determination to reach your goal.

If you have these attributes, you are on your way to join the exclusive club of winners.