Taming an explosive mind, unlocking inner peace and learning better with Feynman

A mind left unchecked can be as good as an enemy.

It creates drama, causes stress, and sabotages relationships.

When we experience conflict, blaming others or circumstances seems like the default option. In that process we miss out on investigating a key culprit: our own thinking.

Unknowingly, we’re often guilty of making unhealthy interpretations or engaging in black-and-white thinking:

-You’re always late!
-You never listen to me
-My partner is the worst communicator
-Nobody understands me…

This tendency to ‘horribilize’ situations or people, disregards nuances that exist everywhere; resulting in heavy biases and explosive emotional reactions.

But there’s another reason why we exaggerate things and make extreme projections on others: it saves us from looking inward and owning our part.

The only way to solve this self-induced mess is to recognize when black-and-white thinking is taking place and notice that extreme words are being used.

For this to happen you need to take a pause and reflect on the emotions that are being experienced in that moment.

A calm state of mind can engage in objective thinking that a stressed mind struggles with. Recentering the self increases receptivity for being more accountable and owning flawed thinking.

Of course, it always helps to give people the benefit of the doubt and make exceptions instead of universalizing everything.

Unlocking internal peace

Mental chatter hits the best of us.

Of all the goals we strive for in life, having a peaceful mind trumps all else.

This realization hits in moments when despite achieving everything, restlessness lingers on. There are countless examples of successful yet unhappy celebrities who speak to this.

The irony is that the place we spend a lifetime seeking is already within us- it just needs to be cultivated.

That’s what Emotion Smart is built for; offering all the tools you need to realize internal peace and mental freedom.

All you have to do is embark on that journey.

The Feynman Technique for Better Learning

Today’s digital construct has dramatically shifted our cognition.

We’re bombarded with distractions, constantly glued to our screens, and simply unable to focus.

Our learning speed and retention have taken a big hit.

This is where the Feynman technique comes in handy. With the intention of simplifying learning, physicist Richard Feynman devised a four-step learning technique:

1. Pretend to teach a concept to a sixth-grader

2. Identify gaps in your explanation. Revisit the material to grasp it better.

3. Organise and simplify

4. Share it with someone else.

Applying the Feynman technique is a great way to supercharge learning and ease the understanding of complex subjects.

As Mortimer Adler said “The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”

In case you missed me last week…

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