The Mind Pillar
Welcome to part two of a four part series on developing your Four Pillars! Today we are focused on the mental aspect of life, the Mind Pillar.
With this series it is our hope to share with all of you the ideas behind balancing the Four Pillars. This philosophy is purely to determine on your own how it should be handled. If you choose to follow the guidelines closely then you can only see the future of your life improving!
The mind is a complex situation to keep in line, for some it can race as fast as a thousand horses, and for others it can be sluggish. We want a calm and focused mind in order to complete our daily tasks, let alone leave a great legacy in life. To keep a calm mind there needs to be no distractions from the other Pillars. So keeping the connections between Pillars will be a common idea throughout the series. We have said in earlier posts that they are all interconnected, and when one is in fault then the others will suffer.
Imbalances
The mind has many nooks and crannies where things can fluctuate. Now I know that sounds so scientific, but if you think about it there are many parts of the brain. From the hypothalamus, pre-frontal cortex, Cerebellum, etc. Many studies show that memories are not stored in just one area or another, but in MANY areas in the brain with a complex way of being stored.
If one of those areas is being affected, or if your mind is distracted by some event that has happened to you, then your mental cognition and focus will be impaired.
Other factors like the other Three Pillars will impact the Mind Pillar. Say for example your body is in poor condition. You're sick, overweight, in pain, then the mind will be focused on that particular situation. That will prevent any improvement in your mental capacity. The same goes for the other Pillars as well.
Sometimes is simply comes down to the fact that you are not pushing your brain enough. The brain is a complex machine to say the least, but it can (at least in this context) be compared to a muscle. If you do not train it and challenge it a couple times a week, if not everyday, then it will become weak.
What You Can Do
There are many ways to train the brain to be sharper, more focused, and to be a smarter person in general. The biggest is simply to learn, and never stop. People who keep learning into their elderly years tend to have a far less change of getting dementia and Alzheimer. Leonardo Da Vinci NEVER stopped learning, and kept in impeccable mental and physical shape all of his life.
Training your brain can be a fun endeavor as well, video games have increasingly built connections in people's brains. Forming new connections and synapses is one of the key things to increasing mental prowess. Video games of all kinds help form new bridges in the spatial awareness parts of the brain, hand-eye coordination, along with some games like shooters increasing the ability to look into the details more acutely.
Other ways are simply learning for learning sake. It can't be something that makes you unmotivated though, but if you can find something that you WANT to learn. Then the process becomes easy. Reading articles, books, and blogs can increase information intake by a lot. Though try to stay away from distraction inducing sources like newspapers, media propaganda, etc. They can have an adverse effect on your learning.
All that can be said is level up!
Keeping Balanced
Keeping your Mind Pillar in balanced is both easier and harder than building it up. For some it can be a challenge to build up mental capacity, others maybe not so much. Let alone detect when the Pillar is in shackles in the first place. Keeping it in balance isn't just keeping in balance with the other Pillars. You have to cultivate a lifestyle that benefits the Mind Pillar in it's own right, not just with all the others. Each Pillar has it's own formula for success, which must be enacted on it's own.
For the Mental Pillar it does come down to the ability to keeping learning, and to challenge your mind.
One topic that will help with mental cognition , focus, and concentration is Nootropics. Which are supplements that help with all of the above. Some are simple like Caffeine and L-Theanine (A relaxation drug that is non-sedative), and when mixed together help increase focus.
C0Q10 is another common supplement that helps with mental agility, along with heart and Body Pillar bonuses.
Other Nootropics dive into an ocean of different studies, tests, and ranges of effects. This level I would have to warn you to study as much as you can before trying much. Some though can really increase mental cognition. Which in reality is really important, and is something that should be sought after, but approached tatically!
Expect to see three more posts about the other Pillars here soon!