How To Change Your Mind From The Outside In

simple qay to change yourself -- buddha quote

Today, scientists have shared with us a proven and simple way to change your mind: start from the outside in.

It turns out that inward changes do not equate to outwards changes. Actually, outward changes equate to inward changes. If you want to change your mind you have to start by changing your actions.

This flies in the face of popular convention. Even THE DAILY MEDITATION’s guide to changing your beliefs states that we can change ourselves from the inside out. So what gives?

Research into psychotherapy has literally turned the tables on the way we think about psychology.

For years—centuries, even—it has been believed that to change your life you need to first change what’s going on inside of you.

Freudian approaches to psychology emphasised working through problems by changing internal thought processes. Most people know the notion of “The Power Of Positive Thought.” It’s the idea that when you think positive you attract positive things into your life. And for millenia people have believed that there is a success mindset.

Yet many people who try to change their lives from the inside out find that it simply does not work.

Do you ever feel as though you are trapped in a cycle that repeats on and on? Do you feel like you’re going in circles? What if you had the power to change your mind (and your life) through the simplest little thing?

Well now you can.

To genuinely change your mind you need to drop the idea of making inward changes. Flip it. Because to make changes in your mind you actually need to changes in your life, not the other way around.

You change when you come into contact with new positive experiences.

Let’s say you want to change your mind by removing fear.

Imagine that you suffer from fear of flying. You would love to be able to fly, to go on vacation to beautiful holiday resorts. But your fear of flying stops you.

Traditional belief is that for you to overcome your fear of flying you need to change yourself internally. You need to change your thoughts and change your negative self-beliefs.

But breaking scientific research shows that you actually need to approach your fear outwardly.

For you to overcome your fear of flying you need new experiences of planes.

Believe it or not, however, those new experiences don’t need to be with actual planes. You could look at photography of planes and try to stay calm while you do. Then visit an airport and just watch planes. Again staying calm. Then imagine yourself on an actual plane, again staying calm.

When you do this your build your courage. You are changing how your mind reacts to planes. Soon you will have learnt to naturally be calm around planes. And then taking a flight will be easy.

You can overcome any fear in this way. And thereby change your mind and your life.

Imagine, for instance, that you feel nervous when talking to people you’re attracted to. It’s a common reaction. Fear of rejection is at play here. If you can overcome fear of rejection you will be free to chat to whomever you want confidently.

To overcome this fear effectively you need to approach it externally. You need to find small stepping stones towards confidence. You might start by chatting to ore people in general. Then you might chat to people you like online. Then you might simply say hi. And all the while you’re building up your confidence. Then you can easily chat to anyone you want with absolute confidence.

You might be thinking: This is the simplest thing. And you would be right. This is the most simple way to change yourself and to change your life.

But for centuries psychologists and spiritualist have believed that to change your life you need to change internally first. And that view is simply not accurate.

Most self help books focus on changing inwardly. So for science to say the opposite and to advocate this simple way to change yourself and to change  life, is a big deal.

So, let’s get the facts straight. . .

Change Your Mind By Changing Your Experiences

The human brain adapts to positive external experiences. Therefore, the simple way to change your mind and to change your life is to follow a path of positive experiences that lead you towards your eventual goal.

Maybe you dream of becoming a wealthy entrepreneur. But you’re afraid you might fail. You’re afraid you might end up broke. So how do you build your confidence so that you can leave your job and enjoy the luxurious lifestyle of a wealthy entrepreneur?

Take positive little steps towards your goal.

Let’s say you want to start a small business selling ebooks. You want to be the owner of a successful company selling ebooks online. But right now you’re locked in a 9-5 and afraid of leaving. How do you get from where you are to where you want to be? How do you change your life in this way? You start by writing a list of small incremental steps you can take to get you from where you are now to where you want to be in the future.

Maybe you decide to start by just chatting to other ebook publishers. So you do that, confidently. Then you decide to put one little ebook on Amazon just to test the waters. So you do that. Then you start talking to authors about your ambition. Then you sign your first author. Then you finally publish that authors book.

Stepping stones. By taking these little steps you can go a long long way.

These little outward experiences actually change the structure of your brain through neuroscience. As you take these little steps, you’re training your brain to develop new ways of thinking. Those brain changes then give you the confidence and motivation to make bigger changes. And by the time you’ve taken just a few steps, you look back and realise you’ve gone far.


Don’t you find it amazing how sometimes the smallest things lead to the biggest changes in the mind and in life?

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