The Influential Nonprofit Episode 75: Maryanne Dersch: Surviving The Fourth-Quarter Crazies
Anytime there's something new, something different, something unexpected, it tends to stir up the monkey mind. It goes into overdrive.
Relax into the present and release the need for certainty and control, knowing that you won’t be able to have it anyway. Shift your monkey mind into more deliberate, conscious thoughts.
Be conscious of what’s happening and interrupt the pattern or the thought. Deliberately pick another thought that’s going to serve you better. Prepare a mantra or an action that will help you change the flow of your thoughts.
Replace thoughts with new ones and then continue the conversation with those new thoughts. Keep practicing until it becomes easier to switch to it whenever negative monkey-mind thoughts come up.
The reason why the monkey mind is so powerful is because there are two things our brain wants: certainty and control. And those are two things that we can never have. They're not real. There's no control, there's no certainty, but we crave those things.
Here's what I know to be true: our thoughts shape our words, and our words shape our reality.
Now that you understand what the monkey mind is, you don't need to judge it. Everybody has it, we're just going to look at it with neutrality and observation.
What gives us that feeling of being safe, supported and grounded is us.
BE MORE CONFIDENT, CREDIBLE & CONVINCING TO YOUR BOARD & SUPPORTERS WITHOUT FEELING REJECTED, INEFFECTIVE, OR PUSHY.
Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work.