Keeping a Good Head on Your Shoulders

Been a while... how are you?

Rekindled by my friend Abhi's blog (http://abhiardagh.com/) I've decided to do a free-flow article on the importance of keeping a good head on your shoulders... what this even means... how to do it...

So what is a "good head"? No, it's not your college girlfriend (well, maybe it was...). I'm talking about a very conscious, problem-solving, liberated mindset which sees life's challenges as mere speedbumps and points of growth.

Someone with a good head on their shoulders CHOOSES to act to the best of their abilities in every moment, thus putting them as far as they could possibly go in any circumstance. Someone who "leaves it all on the field", and also encourages others to do the same (because the more function an environment contains, the more room for growth and creativity, usually.)

How does one, particularly one who doesn't believe themselves to have a good head on their shoulders, begin this journey of self-mastery..? The first step is:

CHOOSE TO!

Often we have goals, ambitions, desires that constantly drain our mental RAM through repetitive looping in our heads. These loops are often entertained, but not acted upon. One must first make a clear, firm decision to change their current thoughts/speech/actions/habits/character/lifestyle, and then DO IT.

For instance, someone eats junk food, doesn't exercise, spends all day on the computer... one day realizes that they aren't living the life they want. Maybe it's all the indigestion or sloth that comes from this sort of a lifestyle, maybe it's a recommendation from a friend who happens to seem to "have it all together" and maintains a healthy lifestyle. Or maybe it's just TIME, but either way... the difference between just thinking about it and living it is taking action.

So you want to be a more positive person? Start to become aware of the negativity in your life. Ouch. There's a lot. Well, you've finally been real with yourself. That's awesome! Now that you've made the decision to SEE your life as it is, you can go about making changes that suit you. To start, anytime you find yourself going down the spiral of negative thought-loops, catch yourself and say "aha! This sort of thinking doesn't suit me!" And even if you don't become overwhelmed with positivity right away, you've at least stopped the negativity in it's tracks. Great job!

Over time, and I'm talking days/weeks of "catching" yourself in bad habits, these seemingly permanent thought loops and actions will actually diminish and you'll find yourself very naturally seeking that presence that comes from being aware of yourself in the moment (catching yourself), as opposed to feeding negative thought-loop upon thought-loop.

Think about it like this... there's a beautiful sitar that's been gifted to you from a friend travelling through India... you have NO CLUE how to play it! But you're determined, and you know that others have learned to play it, so why can't you? (this mindset works for literally ANYTHING IN LIFE.)

So you begin your journey of learning the sitar. Your first few days getting used to the sounds it makes, your first few weeks learning about fingering, your first few months, learning some basic songs, then eventually... wow, you can play a sitar (even if not expertly, yet).

The point here is, EVERYTHING IN  LIFE, including personality changes, takes TIME to come into play. ESPECIALLY habitual tendencies and ways of seeing things, so ingrained into your being, from years and years of societal-, cultural-, parental-, self-conditioning.

But keeping a good head on your shoulders means knowing that even if you aren't where you want to be NOW. You can GET THERE by WORKING HARD at it!

One of my best friends and biggest influences in life, Evan, IS GOING TO BE a professional musician... one who makes their living off of playing music. He isn't doing that now, but he has it so set in his mind that it will happen that he spends hours every day (and has been, and will continue to do so) working on his craft. He told me, "I know it'll just take a little time, it'll happen eventually, I know that." And doesn't get discouraged.

I've heard other artist and musicians, businessmen and women, have similar mindsets that they KNOW THEY WILL GET WHERE THEY WANT TO BE with perseverance.

This is what keeping a good head on your shoulders is... it's being encouraged to do what you want to do. It's taking action to see the world you want to see, for yourself.

Love and light,
Jack