10 Mental Muscles You Need To Work On Besides Your Idea Muscle

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." ~ Willie Nelson

"Only in the darkness can you see the stars." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." ~ Helen Keller

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When your positivity muscle is strong, it makes it easier for you to spot opportunities that no one else is looking for. In a sense, you become much "luckier" and have bigger and better results with the same amount of effort.

Since you're well-versed in seeing the bright side of things, unfortunate circumstances seem to go away much more quickly. Because you know for sure that in every circumstance lies great opportunity.

There has never been a storm that never stopped...

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." ~ William Arthur Ward

"I'm an optimistic realist. I kind of expect the worst but prepare for the best." ~ Trixie Mattel

"The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist." ~ Eric Hoffer

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While being positive all the time is great, sometimes you need to flex the "Realist Muscle" if you want to stay safe and get predictable results in a world full of entropy. You'll be able to limit your losses and your risks. Life becomes a lot less stressful. And it's easier to predict the future more accurately.

"It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes." ~Thomas Aquinas

"To me, age doesn't make a difference in terms of how playful or fun life can be." ~ Brit Morin

"At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day." ~ Simone Biles

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I was reading a study sometime back that found that bear cubs in the wild that are more playful survive longer than those that are too serious all the time.

Playfulness (and fun) inspires creativity. And creativity leads to survival... and even... thriving.

Work is easier when it's fun. Life is a lot more exciting, and it adds some freshness to everything you do. Unfortuntely though, time flies when you're having fun... a little too fast!

"The only real valuable thing is intuition." ~ Albert Einstein

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." ~ Steve Jobs

"Intuition is the key to everything, in painting, filmmaking, business - everything. I think you could have an intellectual ability, but if you can sharpen your intuition, which they say is emotion and intellect joining together, then a knowingness occurs." ~ David Lynch

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I talk about intuition a lot:

https://notepd.com/idea/10-reasons-why-you-should-stop-planning-and-start-doing-nkgol

Because it's powerful. So powerful. When you really hone your intuition, life becomes way easier, simpler and... you just get results faster and faster.

"Math is the great equalizer. If you can do the numbers, the boys have to respect you." ~ Audrey MacLean

"Math is like going to the gym for your brain. It sharpens your mind." ~ Danica McKellar

"People who know math understand what other mortals understand, but other mortals do not understand them. This asymmetry gives them a presumption of superior ability." ~ Daniel Kahneman

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If you want to do big numbers, you need to at least get somewhat good at math. You don't have to be the best in the world at algebra, or calculus... but in general, the better your mathematical ability, the easier it is to make a lot of important decisions in life.

It also helps you a lot in avoiding "scams". Scams like "going to school is important" or "everyone's doing it so it must be right".

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." ~ Sun Tzu

"Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men." ~ Miyamoto Musashi

"Dont give up. Obstacles can be overcome through strategy and learning." ~ Hidetaka Miyazaki

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Most people are so focused on small-picture tactics that they totally miss the big-picture. Strategy helps you see the big picture. And it gives you a sustainable, long-term advantage no matter what field you're in.

When you truly become a student of strategy, victory becomes effortless... and defeat becomes obvious and easily avoidable...

"Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life." ~ Charlie Munger

"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." ~ Bruce Lee

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." ~ Thomas Huxley

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Learning helps you leverage the ideas and brain power of other people, so you don't have to just rely on your own. Life becomes a lot easier when there are millions of other people out there doing all the work for you.

The solutions to all life's problems have already been written out and laid down for.

You just need to exercise your learning muscle more often and claim them for yourself.

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The true method of knowledge is experiment." ~ William Blake

"It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." ~ Richard P. Feynman

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Most people today live with their heads in the clouds. They take news, social media, and research as gospel... without ever doing any experiments of their own. And that's why they fail... big!

Because, as da Vinci once said, if you really go out and do the experiments yourself, you'll find that at least 50% of everything the experts tell you is flat out wrong.

When you experiment, you discover things that no one else will ever tell you. You'll gain knowledge that is uniquely your own. Knowledge that will propel you forward, while helping you avoid the "false fact" pitfalls that everyone else is falling into.

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." ~ Albert Einstein

"The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist." ~ Zig Ziglar

"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." ~ Abraham Maslow

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One way to solve problems is to just practice generating 10 ideas a day:

https://notepd.com/idea/10-reasons-why-you-need-to-write-down-10-ideas-a-day-lqhna

However, problem solving goes beyond just generating ideas. It also involves patience, persistence, and a willingness to try new things and experiment.

It also involves filtering out all the ideas you have, and find the best ones to work with...

... the ones that give you the maximum results for the minimum effort.

Personally, I don't like solving problems. It's easier to just start something new from scratch. But of course, you still need to develop this muscle, because... not everything can be thrown away and recreated without waste.

"What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue." ~ Henri Matisse

"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it." ~ Herodotus

"A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation... is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run." ~ George Matthew Adams

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It's time for me to relax now...