As a naturally sceptical person, I tend to question and scrutinise most things in my life to the point of minute detail. This can be of great advantage at certain times, where situations that arise have already been thought through to a degree where I can approach them in an appropriate and considered manner. However, a big portion of this scrutiny can be involuntary, misguided and lead to nothing other than furthering feelings of stress. I find this is the case when over-thinking situations that I have absolutely no control over, yet still expend the same amount of mental energy pondering to myself. This detailed internal assessment of situations usually takes form (as with most thought) as a monologue in my head, and I'm often completely unaware it's even happening when it does.
Since working with Brian on this Pass Perfection video series, I have gained a hugely valuable insight into how the mind works and just how much control we can have over what our mind does. Brian's techniques are not only straight forward and easy to grasp, but rooted in the real world and therefore immediately helpful and applicable to many situations in day to day life, not just moments of extreme stress or anxiety.
His episode in the Pass Perfection series, 'The Magic of Lemons' helped me greatly in dealing with what I detailed earlier in this post, involuntary internal monologues that lead to increased feelings of stress. Without giving away the lesson's content in all its insightful glory, this episode helped me to identify moments where this 'self talk' was taking place and understand why it was happening. Using simple but extremely effective techniques, Brian opened my awareness up to this side of my mental activity and how prominent and obtrusive this can be at times without realising it for a single moment. This knowledge of self and new found awareness of mind has since led to me understanding and therefore controlling this 'self talk' more regularly when it occurs.
I now feel capable of focussing my internal monologues as they occur to ponder and discuss useful things with myself in my own time rather than stressing out and becoming increasingly anxious about things I can't affect. This aspect of my perception has altered so significantly since working on Pass Perfection that something which used to be a sizeable hinderance to good thought and happiness, is now a welcome element in my day. This in turn, leads to living life as a happier, more content person and turning lonely walks and time alone into useful moments of reflection and personal goal setting.