The activities of the mind are related to patterns of brain activity. Different mental activities, such as reading a book, painting a picture, or talking to a loved one, each involve different patterns of interaction between networks of nerve cells in the brain The networks involved in one activity are often different from those involved in another activity.
Networks can also be linked together in different patterns. If we looked into the brain, we would see shifting patterns in the activity of networks and in their connections with each other as the mind moves from one task to another. For a while, one pattern predominates, then a shift occurs, so brain networks that previously interacted in one pattern now do so in a different configuration.
Limited number of core patterns of brain activity and interaction seem to crop up as recurring features in a wide variety of different mental activities. These core patterns reflect some basic “modes of mind namely THINKING MODE & DOING MODE
For maximum period of time I am in thinking mode than in doing mode
I spend a lot of time dreaming about things — incredible adventures I want to go on, self-improvement projects, all those books I plan on reading And I THINK there’s nothing wrong with that. Dreaming is wonderful.
What I’ve noticed, though, is that sometimes *I get stuck in the thinking and dreaming mode , and don’t actually take action.
When I realize this, it’s good for me to make this distinction: am I in the mode of thinking about it, or actually doing it? Both are fine! But at some point, it helps to make the switch: from thinking about it … to Doing.
This is the point where we make a commitment.
We can think of these modes of mind as loosely *analogous to the gears of a car*. Just as each gear has a particular use (starting, accelerating, cruising, etc.), so each mode of mind has its own particular characteristics and functions .
Over the course of a day, as the mind switches from one kind of activity to another, the underlying mode of mind changes—a little like the way that a car, driven through a busy city, there will be a continuous series of changes from one gear to another . And in much the same way *a car can only be in one gear at a time, when the mind is in certain modes, it will not be in other modes at the same time.
Our continued dwelling on how we are not as we would like to be just makes us feel worse, taking us even further from our desired goal. This, in turn only serves to confirm our view that we are not the kind of person we feel we need to be in order to be happy.
Here are four suggestions on how to take charge from thinking mode to doing mode that is how to shift modes:
1. Check up on your mode of thinking frequently. The great personal development trainer and speaker Zig Ziglar used to recommend “a checkup from the neck up.” The most important dialogue you’ll have today is with yourself. As you drive home from work, ask yourself: What mode of thinking have I been operating in today ? In recent days? What’s my self-talk been and why
2. Take action on an idea. Take a look at your “things to do” list. Pick one out and make it happen! Action calms fear, cures inertia, and can alter a negative mindset The satisfaction of accomplishing even a little task or eliminating an irritant, can lead to further action, feeding on itself in a virtuous cycle . There’s nothing more fun than striking through a task on the proverbial “to do” list and here’s why: it shifts your mental mode from Defeatist/Sustainer to Dreamer/Opportunity.
3. Count to ten and win. To shift out of Defeatist Mode, literally count your blessings. List all the things in your life you have going for you: your friends, job, faith in a higher power, etc. After you’ve proven to yourself that you can do this, consider how you might help others jumpstart their thinking and shift into performance enhancing modes.
4. Let your Dreamer Mode come out to play. One of my favorite techniques is called WIBGI, which stands for “ wouldn’t it be great if… ?” To help yourself or your colleagues shift to a more visionary state of mind, invite people to weigh in with statements starting with: “wouldn’t it be great if” and vocalize whatever comes to mind.
It’s very easy to fall into one of the less productive thinking modes without even being aware of it . It’s an inescapable part of human existence to sometimes operate from the Defeatist or Sustainer Modes .
The “Doing” Mode
The ruminative state of mind is actually a variant of a much more general mode of mind that has been called the “doing” mode. The job of this mode of mind is to get things done —to achieve particular goals that the mind has set. These goals could relate to the external world—to make a meal, build a house, or travel to the moon—or to the internal world of self—to feel happy, not make mistakes, never be depressed again , or be a good person . The basic strategy to achieve such goals involves something we call the “discrepancy monitor * a process that continually monitors and evaluates our current situation against a model or standard—an idea of what is desired, required, expected, or feared.
Once this discrepancy monitor is switched on, it will find mismatches between how things are and how we think they should be .
But, crucially, dwelling on how things are not as we want them to be can, naturally enough, create further negative mood.
In this way, our attempts to solve a “problem” by endlessly thinking about it can keep us locked into the state of mind from which we are doing our best to escape.
How the Discrepancy Monitor Works:
1) First we create an idea of how we want things to be, or how we think they should be.
2) Next, we compare that with our idea of how things are right now.
3) If there is a difference between how things are and how we want them to be, then we generate thoughts and actions to try to close the gap.
4) We monitor progress to see whether the gap is increasing or decreasing, and adjust our actions accordingly.
5) We know we have reached our goal when our idea of how WE WANT THEM TO BE –
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