Perhaps all of us at some point of our lives become prisoners of our thoughts. The mind conjures the thought, which we not only tend to believe in, but most often are hostage to it. The thoughts can be positive or negative; motivational or otherwise. The nature of thought is unimportant,it is our ‘ belief ‘ of them to be true and factual, that makes them significant. Accepting everything that the mind tells us, can be disastrous way to lead a personal and professional life. “There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so” wrote, William Shakespeare in Hamlet. Our thoughts have no borders nor have limitations of any horizon. They transcend all conceivable limitations. It is only the mind that thinks beyond the speed of lightning. There is no rope made or manufactured that can either bind or imprison the mind. As Franklin Ross said, “men are not prisoners of fate but only prisoners of their own minds”.
Perhaps all of us at some point of our lives become prisoners of our thoughts. The mind conjures the thought, which we not only tend to believe in, but most often are hostage to it. The thoughts can be positive or negative; motivational or otherwise. The nature of thought is unimportant,it is our ‘ belief ‘ of them to be true and factual, that makes them significant. Accepting everything that the mind tells us, can be disastrous way to lead a personal and professional life. “There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so” wrote, William Shakespeare in Hamlet. Our thoughts have no borders nor have limitations of any horizon. They transcend all conceivable limitations. It is only the mind that thinks beyond the speed of lightning. There is no rope made or manufactured that can either bind or imprison the mind. As Franklin Ross said, “men are not prisoners of fate but only prisoners of their own minds”.
The human mind is blessed by divinity with an inherent purity. It is during the growing process and later by experiencing life in its fullness that we either add to its sereneness of purity or imperil it with impurities and negativity. A mind enlightened is heaven; a mind in darkness is hell.
The human mind operates like a regular personal computer; you feed it with garbage,its output would be the same quality too. Contrarily if the mind is continually trained to accept that change in our belief system can open fresh and newer vistas of developing a sound vision, on the horizon of our lives, it can result in better circumstances of growth and productivity. This entails progressive and successive cultivation of positive thinking. Undoubtedly positive attitude, having regard to self esteem and being fearless,is a sure way towards leading a life of happiness and contentment.
In the ever fertile soil of the mind, the requirement towards achieving tasks and goals, the seeds of either hope or of despondency can be sown. The harvest to follow will be representative of the quality of what was sown. Our recent crisis and challenges that we face today as a nation aren’t overnight creations or developments, the present is the consequence of the past deeds, actions and policies, which cumulatively prove today that these were flawed and not thought through enough.
Events in life will necessarily happen, if the mind is kept in check ,success would follow but if the mind stems and sprouts apprehensions, then most likely,failure will be the fate. Parents,who begin conversations with their off spring in the following manner, “I/we don’t think that you will be able to achieve, this or that, milestone;” are actually in doing so giving a pre- verdict , and in the process crush, any possibility of achievement. On the contrary,an expression of confidence, that says, “you can do it” works wonder on the development of the relevant mindset. In a similar vein, when a supervisor entrusts challenges with implicitly laden doubt, will find the outcome of effort to be of low quality, for reasons of anxiety and apprehension; those who begin before explaining the task, with words like,”I am confident that this assignment you can do with good results and hence I have chosen you for the task”, is like pumping magical enthusiasm in the report (colleague). Expression of faith and reliability in a colleague’s ability gets imprinted upon the mind, which goes to serve as an elixir to performance.
The need to remain mindful of how the environmental toxicities, that is, those that reside outside our own selves can play havoc with behaviour and the responses. These toxicities are offered in times of particularly, challenges and adversities. The mind can at times lead us to become captive to its awareness that resides in the sub- conscious, which may relate to a past similar event, and hence it tends to give similar response. The emotion of anger is largely used when the subconscious dominates the behavioural response to any given situation.
Nature has blessed the human mind to see beyond the apparent and to wake up to the reality that will unfold itself . At the start of every project or objective, We tend to fill ourselves with thoughts of possible failure. The subconscious whispers that a certain goal wouldn’t be achieved or is unlikely to be achieved. The harvest is dependent only upon what quality of seeds have been planted upon the field of the mind.
Enlightened supervisors speak to themselves on a continual basis that they can usher in change with existing resources. These types of managers/leaders have the capacity to seek emancipation from the self inflicted limitations, that ultimately limit their own and the team’s potential. If the leader has no mind to change, he surely will never change his mind. A mind that is trained to view things from a lens that accepts the dynamics of change, will necessarily promote reconditioning to suit new realities. Bertrand Russell in an interview had remarked, “None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error”. This attitude helps in provoking positive thinking and the development of cemented opinions and thoughts, whilst at work; and Russel captioned this behaviour as “the will to doubt”. We have it in us to either control the mind , from its attempts to dominate or make an abject surrender to its ignoble demands. This dilemma is so true of all offices and its related functionaries. The choice to be made is one of control- either be in control or give away the reins to others.
To predict and preempt change is difficult -- one has to flow with planned and unplanned changes; if the events as they unfold cannot be changed, it is best to change oneself. A leader is expected to live by an active consciousness. This permits the possibility of amending responses and also keep in reconditioning the mind, that must remain free from biases and prejudices. In the management of human resources, the supervisor has to bring to use the ability to shift from a circus of negative thinking . It is only fools who do not change their mind.
“Mind has powerful muscles,but has no personality”(Einstein). Actually, the mind is the man. What is a man, but his mind?
The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist
