MindPower - Mentors Skill book 1 of 5 How Your Mind Shapes Your World and What You Can Do To Shape Your Mind! Mentor s Guide Renaye Thornborrow Adventures in Wisdom 2010 Renaye Thornborrow All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 HOW TO USE THIS SKILL BOOK FOR MENTOR-LED LEARNING 3 MENTOR S NOTES HOW YOUR MIND SHAPES YOUR WORLD 4 The two parts of our mind 5 Belief systems 6 Two types of beliefs 7 Choosing our beliefs 8 Key points 8 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This information is copyrighted by Renaye Thornborrow. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the express written, dated, and signed permission from the author. All inquiries should be addressed to info@adventuresinwisdom.com. All Rights Reserved. Page 2
How to Use this Skill Book for Mentor-led learning Understanding how our conscious mind, our subconscious mind, and our belief systems work is critical for reaching our full potential, creating a happy life, and making our dreams come true. 1. Read through the Mentor s Notes for background information and tips on discussing the parts of our mind. 2. Read Wyatt s Coaching Notes and the story Who s Flying Your Plane? Have your children discuss the questions in the Let s Talk activity (see Appendix A for answers). 3. Read Wyatt s Wrap Up. Mentor-led learning Time Investment (18) Mentor s Notes Wyatt s Notes Story Let s Talk Wyatt s Wrap Up 3 minutes 1 Minute 7 Minutes 5 Minutes 2 Minute 4. Review the coaching tips for parents and mentors (in the Mentor s Guide). 5. Over the next few weeks and months, review the Wise in 5 activities to reinforce the lesson. 6. Repeat the skill book periodically for mastery! All Rights Reserved. Page 3
Mentor s Notes How Your Mind Shapes Your World Understanding how our conscious mind, our subconscious mind, and our belief systems work is critical for reaching our full potential, creating a happy life, and making our dreams come true. Why are some people wildly successful in their lives while others tend to constantly struggle? Why do some people live in fear while others live in possibility? Why are some people self-confident while others shy away from new people and new experiences almost afraid of life? The answer is their belief systems. It s about how they choose to see themselves in their world and what they believe is possible for their lives. Understanding our mind is the key to understanding why we are who we are. Understanding how our mind works is the key to understanding why we are who we are it is also the key to shaping who we want to be. In this skill book, we will learn how our mind works and be introduced to belief systems. In the next skill book, Power of Possibilities Why You Achieve What You Believe, we will take it further and learn how belief systems are formed, how limiting beliefs can squash our dreams, and how we can stretch outside of our comfort zone to achieve our goals. First let s understand how our mind works. All Rights Reserved. Page 4
The two parts of our mind Did you know that our mind has two parts? Our conscious mind and our subconscious mind. Our conscious mind is where we do all of our thinking. It is the part of the mind that we are aware of. So when we say 2+2=4 or we tell someone about a book we read, we are using our conscious mind. Our subconscious mind is the part of our brain that we are not aware of. It is like a giant filing cabinet that stores our memories, life experiences, and belief systems. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. Buddha As an analogy, think about our mind being like an airplane. Just like an airplane takes us where we want to go, our mind takes us where we want to go. With an airplane, the pilot and the autopilot control the plane. The pilot is the human that controls the plane by thinking and the autopilot is the computer that controls the plane based on the programs it is running. With our brain, both our conscious mind and our subconscious mind control us. Our conscious mind acts like our pilot we think and make decisions. Our subconscious mind acts like our autopilot - impacting what we think and what we feel based on the programs it is running. We ll talk more about these programs in minute. All Rights Reserved. Page 5
If we are a pilot of a real plane, we can turn off the autopilot and be in complete control of the airplane. However, that is not the case with our brain. We cannot turn off our autopilot. It is always on, even when we are sleeping! If our pilot thinking and our autopilot programs are working together we can fly our plane and go wherever we want to go. The problem comes when our pilot thinking and our autopilot programs are different. If our pilot thinking is telling us to fly and our autopilot programs are telling us to crash then we re in trouble - because our autopilot is stronger than our pilot (our subconscious mind is stronger than our conscious mind)! So it is critical that we understand what our pilot, or our conscious mind, is thinking and what type of programs our autopilot, or subconscious mind, is running. These programs are called belief systems. Belief systems Belief systems are the programs in our mind. Belief systems are what we believe about ourselves, our world, and how everything works it s what we think is right or wrong and true or false about life. Our belief systems are composed of thousands of beliefs about every area of our lives such as school, sports, family, friends, money, health, religion, culture, food, children, and on and on and on. Examples of beliefs are: All Rights Reserved. Page 6
I m smart. People like me! I m too old to start a business. I don t think I can. I m set in my ways. I m a strong athlete. Both my parents had diabetes so I will have it too. I can do anything. Rich people are snobs. You have to work hard to make a living. "There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge. Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought." Napoleon Hill Our beliefs directly impact how we feel about ourselves (our self-esteem) and what we can accomplish in our lives (our selfconfidence). Two types of beliefs There are two types of beliefs, or programs, running in our mind supportive beliefs and limiting beliefs. Supportive beliefs Supportive beliefs support us in achieving what we want. Examples of supportive beliefs include, I m smart, I can do anything I put my mind to, I don t let fear stop me, etc. Supportive beliefs help us feel good about ourselves and achieve our goals. Limiting beliefs Limiting beliefs can hold us back and keep us from what we want. Examples of limiting beliefs include I m not very smart, I don t think I can, I m too old to go back to school. Limiting beliefs can make us feel bad about ourselves and can keep us from ever achieving our goals. All Rights Reserved. Page 7
Choosing our beliefs The good news is that we can choose our beliefs we can take our knowledge of how our mind works and program our mind for success. In Adventures in Wisdom, our kids will learn how to do 2 key things: 1. Recognize and power shift limiting beliefs. 2. Intentionally create supportive beliefs. Key points 1. Just like a plane takes you where you want to go, your mind takes you where you want to go. 2. You have two parts of your mind your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. 3. Your conscious mind is your thinking mind and your subconscious mind is the part of your mind you are not aware of it holds your experiences, memories, and beliefs. 4. If your mind is like a airplane, your conscious mind is like a pilot controlling what you do based on your thinking and your subconscious mind is like an autopilot controlling what you do based on the programs (or belief systems) that are running. 5. You have both supportive beliefs and limiting beliefs. Supportive beliefs help you get what you want. Limiting beliefs can hold you back. 6. If you aren t achieving your goals, you may have limiting beliefs that are getting in your way. All Rights Reserved. Page 8