How to Change Your Mind
Is it possible to teach an old dog new tricks? To create new habits, even after say, 50 years of ingrained beliefs? To imagine that the way we experience the world can be dramatically different from the way we currently see it?
These are exciting questions because scientific evidence now proves that the way a person perceives their reality will dictate their level of happiness.
And everyone wants to be happy, right?
I grabbed the title of this post from Michael Pollan’s book on psychedelic therapy. It’s a fantastic read that proves how flexible our brains are and how change is possible at any age. This groundbreaking research has the potential to heal thousands of people who mentally suffer across the globe. Of course, if you want to change your mind you can go grab some mushrooms or head out on an ayahuasca retreat. But if you’re not ready to sign up for that kind of deep-dive, there is another very simple, easy, completely free option that’s available and accessible to any person at any moment…
And that is (drumroll please) a concept I call…. BRAGITUDE.
What’s Bragitude you might ask? Very simply, it’s the creative combination of bragging (in a tone of celebration and acknowledgment) fused with the practice of gratitude and appreciation. It’s intentionally tying words of gratitude to your personal success.
So simple, yet so powerful.
If the focus of your mind is on celebration and appreciation, the inner critic is silenced and natural feelings of joy will follow. If the focus lies on what is lacking - what you don’t have or how you continue to fall short - you will be met with insecurity. Of course, there are times when we’re so stuck in the mud that it’s hard to see the light. When I struggle to dig myself out of a rut, I summon my personal coach and sunny-side-up-kind-of-friends to redirect and help me see what I’m missing.
But over time it gets easier. And once you get very intentional about this practice of bragitude, the pattern plays out like this:
- You make a decision about where you focus your attention.
- You actively choose to see the things that you have versus what you don’t have.
- You simultaneously acknowledge every tiny personal success you have. You become your own cheerleader.
- This process slowly changes your emotional world. Your feelings start to shift.
- These feelings include lightness, optimism, and excitement about what’s to come.
- As emotions shift in your body, so too does your mental state.
- These two parts of your biology symbiotically feed off of one another and your reality starts to bend. It’s as if a foggy windowpane has been wiped clean and you can finally let the sun shine through.
- You start to notice opportunities and possibilities around every corner and you begin to follow them.
- Doors open and life keeps expanding and compounding into an entirely new reality you never knew existed. One rife with abundance and bliss.
Now that’s an interesting journey isn’t it? (Sign me up please!)
Let me pause and say that yes - the inevitable bumps and challenges will come along, occasionally fogging up the glass and pulling you back into the old reality. But over time, as this new habit situates in your brain, it gets easier and a fresh pattern develops. And that pattern creates a different, almost 4-D reality.
When I experienced this in my life, I told a friend about the incredible new level of happiness I felt. He responded by saying, “Carrie, this is what normal life is supposed to be.” Normal??? What had I been missing out on for the last 40 years?
The good news is that it’s never too late. You can start today. And the most amazing part? It’s free. It’s available to any person of any age. Our brains are flexible and plastic and we get to choose where we focus our minds.
Now that’s an empowering thought, isn’t it?
I dare you to try this for 30 days and see what happens. You just might wake up to an entirely new kind of American dream.
