The self
Human beings, like all living things, are designed to live in the world. Understanding and utilizing our uniquely human design is the basis of building a Strong Self. Characteristics of individuals with a strong sense of self include:
Direct contact with reality
Our senses and the perceptions they produce in the brain are measuring devices uniquely calibrated to attend to things in the world that are relevant to our survival or what might be called our “success at living.” To refuse to use or be incapable of using our senses to be in contact with the world means surviving at a very low level or not at all. To live well we must be committed to being in contact with reality.
An active mind
But passively sensing the world is not sufficient for living. An individual must actively engage the world with their mind. The process of active mental engagement is called “thinking.” A simple definition of thinking is the process of “making sense” of things. The results of many thinking individuals, reaching the same conclusion about their sensing a particular thing or set of things is called “common sense.”
Human beings, like all living things, are designed to live in the world. Understanding and utilizing our uniquely human design is the basis of building a Strong Self. Characteristics of individuals with a strong sense of self include:
Direct contact with reality
Our senses and the perceptions they produce in the brain are measuring devices uniquely calibrated to attend to things in the world that are relevant to our survival or what might be called our “success at living.” To refuse to use or be incapable of using our senses to be in contact with the world means surviving at a very low level or not at all. To live well we must be committed to being in contact with reality.
An active mind
But passively sensing the world is not sufficient for living. An individual must actively engage the world with their mind. The process of active mental engagement is called “thinking.” A simple definition of thinking is the process of “making sense” of things. The results of many thinking individuals, reaching the same conclusion about their sensing a particular thing or set of things is called “common sense.”
"I am, therefore I'll think."
Ayn Rand 1905-1982
Mindset
Mindset
Your mind is amazing
It can identify, label, categorize, store, and inventory many different things “directly experienced;” for example rocks, trees, chairs, or carrots to name but a few. Or it can invent concepts that allow the mind to extend beyond the realm of the senses in the quest to “make sense” of things. A concept is not a direct sensory perception but rather an indirect representation of a logical interconnection between things. For example rocks and trees are represented by the concept “nature;” carrots and little green peas are represented by the concept “vegetables.” Here is an important point to remember: NO LIVING THING OTHER THAN PEOPLE LIVE HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR LIVING AT THE CONCEPTUAL LEVEL. This fact defines human beings.
Like a video camera the human mind can “zoom in” or “zoom out” depending on whether it requires magnified detail or a broader perspective of things. This “zooming,” allows movement between detail and the proper placement of detail when solving problems.
These are only two of many amazing features of your mind. An additional short list includes the ability to:
☐ Intensely focus concentration
☐ Define values and related behavioral virtues
☐ Detect logical contradictions
☐ Sort truth from deception
and the list goes on, and on, and on. The more fully an individual understands and uses their mental capacity, the more successful and satisfied they are with their life.
One more thing.
The human mind is like a muscle that is capable of many things, such as those described above. Like a muscle, in order to do it’s job, it must be maintained by regular use or exercise. Without exercise the mind becomes passive, sluggish, and ineffective.
Courage to take action -- the workbench of the mind
But simply being in contact with reality and exercising the mind is not enough. Living in reality and thinking require action. Action is the mind’s workbench. An individual must constantly “bench test” the effectiveness of their thinking in relationship with those aspects of reality to which they choose to attend. The results obtained provide feedback telling us to “stay the course” or “change the plan.”
And of course, most importantly, the payoff of effective action is survival. The bonus of effective thinking and action is “living well."
It can identify, label, categorize, store, and inventory many different things “directly experienced;” for example rocks, trees, chairs, or carrots to name but a few. Or it can invent concepts that allow the mind to extend beyond the realm of the senses in the quest to “make sense” of things. A concept is not a direct sensory perception but rather an indirect representation of a logical interconnection between things. For example rocks and trees are represented by the concept “nature;” carrots and little green peas are represented by the concept “vegetables.” Here is an important point to remember: NO LIVING THING OTHER THAN PEOPLE LIVE HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR LIVING AT THE CONCEPTUAL LEVEL. This fact defines human beings.
Like a video camera the human mind can “zoom in” or “zoom out” depending on whether it requires magnified detail or a broader perspective of things. This “zooming,” allows movement between detail and the proper placement of detail when solving problems.
These are only two of many amazing features of your mind. An additional short list includes the ability to:
☐ Intensely focus concentration
☐ Define values and related behavioral virtues
☐ Detect logical contradictions
☐ Sort truth from deception
and the list goes on, and on, and on. The more fully an individual understands and uses their mental capacity, the more successful and satisfied they are with their life.
One more thing.
The human mind is like a muscle that is capable of many things, such as those described above. Like a muscle, in order to do it’s job, it must be maintained by regular use or exercise. Without exercise the mind becomes passive, sluggish, and ineffective.
Courage to take action -- the workbench of the mind
But simply being in contact with reality and exercising the mind is not enough. Living in reality and thinking require action. Action is the mind’s workbench. An individual must constantly “bench test” the effectiveness of their thinking in relationship with those aspects of reality to which they choose to attend. The results obtained provide feedback telling us to “stay the course” or “change the plan.”
And of course, most importantly, the payoff of effective action is survival. The bonus of effective thinking and action is “living well."
An understanding of the beneficial role of emotion
And finally, what about the role of feelings? Emotion is an important part of the human design. For the individual who chooses to live in direct contact with reality and who has made a habit of actively engaging their mind and the world, emotions become the “score keeper” and the “payday” for accepting and focusing on reality, actively engaging life with the effort required to think and to move thought into action. High scores “feel good” and build self-confidence. Low scores, however, are also important; they convey messages that potentially trigger thoughts like “re-focus," "pay attention," “re-evaluate," "re-think," and "try again.”
The Strengthening the Self Approach
Establishes a commitment to sensory perceptual contact with the world.
Instills habits of active mental activity and thinking.
Motivates action.
Builds self confidence based self trust and effective action.
Places emotion in its proper role as a “score keeper” and “reward system” for thinking straight, working hard, and living well.
GOALS
Learn to live your life based on a stable philosophy rather than moment to moment roller coaster emotions.
Use the power tool of imagery to build new skills and abilities.
Reenergize and strengthen your
memory. Build stories that integrate life experiences and develop your uniqueness as an individual.
memory. Build stories that integrate life experiences and develop your uniqueness as an individual.
Use the power tool of objectification to put life experiences in proper perspective placing you in control of your emotional life.
Use Asset Based Consciousness to reduce thinking in terms of liabilities, and increase appreciation and application of accomplishments when working towards goals.
Use the power tool of language in a manner designed to strengthen what you value and weaken what you want to decrease or eliminate.
Think
Do
Feel