The Practicing Mind Podcast

Episode 4: The 4 ”S” Words - How achieve your goals in 4 easy steps.

Episode 4 of The Practicing Mind Podcast is all about the 4 "S" words and how to achieve any goal you set your mind too using these 4 words simplify, small, short, and slow.

We have a tendency to look at a task that we have to accomplish, a skill that we need to build or a goal that we set from the perspective of its entirety. In The Practicing Mind I gave an example of having to clean the garage. In your mind it’s easy to see this task from the perspective of not only the physical labor involved but all the decisions that are going to have to be made. Should I keep this, should I keep that, will I ever need this again, is it a mistake to get rid of it etc. The magnitude of work can feel overwhelming and easily push you in the direction of procrastination.

But if you simplify the task by looking at just one small area of the garage perhaps a corner and say to yourself today I am only going to focus on this corner, the amount of effort you need to expend seems much more inviting. Now…You have to give yourself permission to ignore the rest of the garage and look at the cleaning and organizing as a process.

Remember what we’re aiming for is present moment functioning. We want to be absorbed in the present moment, in the process of what we’re doing right here and right now. If we can achieve that, our interpretation and so the experience of the situation changes. The goal is easily accomplished because we have not overloaded our self with too much to do in too little time.

Listen to the full episode to hear how to apply all 4 "S " words to your life starting today.

Please send in your questions on something we haven’t yet covered or an aspect of something that was covered in a previous episode that you want to learn more about. Feel free to email your questions & comments to me at asktom@tomsterner.com. Now sit back, and enjoy episode 4 of The Practicing Mind Podcast!

 

Episode 3: Thought Awareness Training - What it is & how to use it for better thoughts today.

"Thought Awareness Training" What the heck is that?

In episode 3 of The Practicing Mind Podcast, I'll be discussing a hidden power that we all have. The ability to train and use "thought awareness".

Thought Awareness Training is a phrase that I coined for my coaching clients years ago. It really focuses on how individual words have meaning that we all have agreed on, but they also have an emotional polarity.

Take the word "mistake" for example, we all know what it means, but words like this can also carry a negative emotional polarity. The word "struggle" is another example, like when we are at the moment of trying to master any skill, we feel a sense of struggle. 

When we label something as a struggle, it sounds negative, but what you can learn to do is think of the "struggle" as where you are in the process of mastering the skill. 

This is where Thought Awareness Training comes into the picture. An easy way to think about it is that it is like mediation but for a specific purpose. 

Listen in to learn how to implement Thought Awareness Training in your daily life.

Please send in your questions on something we haven’t yet covered or an aspect of something that was covered in a previous episode that you want to learn more about. Feel free to email your questions & comments to me at asktom@tomsterner.com. Now sit back, and enjoy episode 3 of The Practicing Mind Podcast!

Episode 2: The Concept of Process not Product

The concept of process not product. What does that mean? In episode 2 of The Practicing Mind Podcast, I discuss how when you are "process oriented" your attention is absorbed in the experience of achieving your goal and its not attached to the moment that the goal is achieved. 

I will also be discussing Present Moment Functioning the two reasons why it's difficult to practice Present Moment Functioning in our current society. Like any skill, if you repeat the correct mechanics, you master it and it becomes more your natural way of approaching any task. 

One of the things that present moment function or PMF does for you is it gives you an escape from stress. So if you find yourself feeling stressed out often, be sure to listen to this full episode to learn how to give yourself permission to be right where you are in this moment. It will give you the feeling of being complete, of being productive and of being in control!

Please send in your questions on something we haven’t yet covered, or an aspect of something that was covered in a previous episode that you want to learn more about. Feel free to email your questions & comments to me at asktom@tomsterner.com. Now sit back, and enjoy episode 2 of The Practicing Mind Podcast!

Episode 1: Welcome to The Practicing Mind Podcast!

Welcome to The Practicing Mind Podcast!

In this first episode of The Practicing Mind Podcast, the theme is "If you could sit down and have a drink with anyone that's ever lived throughout history, who would that be and why?" Be sure to listen to the end to hear my answer - it may surprise you!

I'll also be discussing the show's format, a bit more about my background, the core realization that everything in life is a skill, and If you want to be good at something that makes you uncomfortable and who doesn't when those times come? Tell yourself "This is where the fun starts". This way you can learn to see these moments as an opportunity to learn a new skill that you haven't yet mastered.

Coming up on the show interpretation creates experience. What does that mean? Many things we experience during the day, we don't realize that we create the experience through our interpretation and how does that work? I'll be giving you some examples on that and how you can change it so that your interpretation serves your happiness.

Also, what is deliberate thinking VS compulsive thinking, which one is better? Are you the "thinker" or are you being "thought" by your subconscious mind?  

In the next episode we're going to talk about DISCIPLINE. Discipline is power & freedom, it's real currency you might say. Without it, you have no control, but what is discipline? Is it doing what you don't feel like doing when you don't feel like doing it? Be sure to listen in to find out!

Please send in your questions on something we haven't yet covered, or an aspect of something that was covered in a previous episode that you want to learn more about. Feel free to email your questions & comments to me at asktom@tomsterner.com. Now sit back, and enjoy episode 1 of The Practicing Mind Podcast! 

Trailer for The Practicing Mind Podcast by Tom M. Sterner

Hey, everyone. This is Tom Sterner, author of The Practicing Mind: Developing Discipline and Focus In Your Life, here to talk to you about my upcoming podcast.

My first book, The Practicing Mind was published in 2005, and it reflected over three and a half decades of research into just how to maximize our mental performance while at the same time feeling patient, focused and content.

Being right here, right now in the present moment. In other words, being "in the process" of achieving any goal. The research took me through everything from Eastern thought systems that were thousands of years old to modern sports psychology and neuroscience.

The success of the book launched a second career for me. Over the past 16 years of lecturing, being interviewed and coaching so many individuals from all over the world, I have been asked a lot of questions and asked to solve a lot of personal struggles. Somewhere in there is information that you need to hear. And so The Practicing Mind, what I learned from coaching podcast is here. There is even a way for you to contact me with your own questions, so check it out and see what it's all about!

Talk to you soon.

- Tom M. Sterner