What tweak has made all the difference in your life?

Treating my mind and body like domesticable animals.

We have these two incredible tools to traverse our universe and planet, respectively, and what do we do with them? Let them run us into the proverbial ground. Senseless, stressy thoughts. Poor body management. Lazy everything.

Loops on loops on loops of the same circular messes, all dirtying our best intentions and highest truths.
But, alas! There is a better way!

Leveraging Eastern philosophy, Western psychology, and a grab bag of physiology, physics, art, and poetry gadgets, I now have two adorable, highly-functional, only-sometimes-annoying pets.

“ello, Mind. hullo, Body. It’s me, yo’ boss.”

Taking the reins of these two animals and breaking them in is as much willpower as it is an understanding.

If you aren’t your body, which Michael Singer beautifully argues in “The Search for Truth,” *and* you have the ability to observe the voice in your head, which makes it separate from the thing observing (you, baby), then you can safely walk towards the comforting conclusion that *YOU* are neither.

Discovering this was game-changing— the incessant wants of my mind and body were irrelevant noise and mostly pointless, troublemaking antics.

After the understanding, then the work.

For years I had been winding down (or maybe it’s up?) the path of enlightenment and this tiny truth time-wrinkled the road.

I set out to learn how to reliably rule both for the greater good — peace.

TBH, it’s a bit of a scuffle to restore authority to its proper owner.

Here are some strategies I found useful:

• Start small
  • If you want to learn to play piano, you begin with something manageable. Like where and how you sit.
  • Instead of wrestling your biggest dragons, start with something that isn’t emotionally-charged. Like making your bed or nixing negative talk.
• Use data
  • You (the mind) can’t lie to you (you-you) about many numbers for very long.
  • Most things can be tracked — calories, words, time, applications — so quantify the BEHAVIOR (not the outcome) and train yourself to stick to MANAGEABLE targets.
• Be forgiving
  • If you jack up (and you will), don’t abandon the cause. Review what’s working and what’s not. Make a pivot and keep playing.
• Invite other eyes
  • A mentor, an unbiased audience, or some public display of something will make a difference.
  • For example, working with a personal trainer helps when you (the body) doesn’t want to push past thresholds towards what you (you-you) really want.
• Recognize discomfort and resistance as goal posts
  • If your mind starts to chatter like two girls on a Friday afternoon school bus, know you’ve found a huge opportunity for growth.
  • Come to terms with being uncomfortable mentally and physically and learn to find joy, or at least humor, in it.
  
  

The idea is to build up confidence in your inner knowing, find a reliable protocol to dominate these two demanding entities, and strengthen your ability to focus and execute even when they urge/yell/protest.
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I have to say, IMHO, it’s worth a few months of psychological scrapes, ego bruises, and pouty, whole-body standoffs. When you have these powerful beasts on your higher side, you’re practically limitless.
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