Pause Your Machinery: Operating Principles

Stop and take a moment to “pause your machinery.” The concepts and techniques I present throughout my latest book, Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living, require mindfulness to learn and master, and this brief written exercise will give you the opportunity to rest, step outside the pattern of passive reading, and bring yourself into the present moment to reflect and see how the information I want to share with you can be integrated into your own life.

Keep your written answers, because they will be valuable for you to review and refer to later. You may want to buy a notebook or open a computer file so that you can keep all of your responses together in one place.

• Think mindfully about your Organizing Principles and write a brief description of each one. For example if one of your underlying beliefs is that it’s up to you to solve problems for others, your Organizing Principle might be “I need to take care of anybody who is needy or in pain.” If your belief is the opposite—that you need others to take care of your needs and alleviate your pain—your Organizing Principle might be “I can’t take care of my own needs, and I’m dependent on other people’s help.”
• To help you recognize the Organizing Principles that you believe in, think about the following and write down your responses:
  • What do you believe about yourself, and how do you see your place in the world? Do you view yourself in positive terms or in negative terms? How would you describe your overall belief about yourself
  • When you meet people for the first time, do you have an expectation as to how they will respond to you?
  • Do you expect people close to you to understand you?
  • When you approach a challenge, do you assume you will be able to accomplish it?
• Review the Organizing Principles you’ve listed and reflect on the ways that they affect your behavior and whether they help you get your needs met or hurt you. Write down your obser­vations about how acting on them helps you or hurts you in getting your needs met.

An excerpt from my recent book, Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living, now available at Amazon.