1. How do we stop taking things too personally when it is such a common thinking error and cognitive distortion that so many of us fall into?
Taking things personally often stems from our innate need for acceptance and validation. However, constantly internalising criticism
or negativity can lead to stress, anxiety, and diminished self-esteem. By learning to stop taking things too personally, we can cultivate emotional resilience, improve our mental health, and foster healthier relationships. In this article I offer up a number of research-backed psychological strategies (all of which I teach in my classes) to help you disengage from unwarranted personalisation.
Read full article here: How to Stop Taking Things Too Personally.
2. How do you hold yourself accountable? Yesterday we began our online body mastery programme and it has accountability inherently built into it, yet it also includes ways to hold yourself accountable and with it being fresh in my mind I thought I’d write about ways to hold yourself accountable
today.
Accountability is a crucial component of personal development and mental health and has the backing of research to support it’s application and use. When we hold ourselves accountable, we take responsibility for our actions, decisions, and their outcomes. This sense of responsibility can significantly enhance our motivation, bolster our resilience, and contribute to our overall wellbeing. Here, I’m exploring and sharing various psychological strategies to help you hold
yourself accountable in life, all supported by scientific research.
Read full article here: How to Hold Yourself Accountable in Life.
3. Those that have studied with me or those who are currently enrolled upon my hypnotic body mastery programme, will know that I
teach and talk about the power of self-deception in combination with self-hypnosis or even as a form of self-hypnosis, and importantly as a personal psychological skill for our betterment.
As most of us tend to know, in the realm of sports and exercise, the mind plays a pivotal role in determining performance outcomes. While physical training is essential, the psychological strategies available to us can significantly influence their success. One such strategy is the
intentional use of self-deception — a psychological mechanism where individuals convince themselves of a false belief to alter their perception of reality. This technique, when applied purposefully, can enhance performance by reducing perceived effort, increasing motivation, and fostering a positive mindset. If you ever read my Hypnosis for Running book, you’ll know I describe a specific technique in that for using self-hypnosis to alter perception of effort, which happens to have some pretty
solid research to support it and still happens to be one of my favourite applications of hypnosis....
Read full article here: Harnessing the Psychology of Self-Deception to Enhance Exercise and Sports Performance.
4. Don’t enjoy exercising? Well you are not
alone, lots of people do not do a great deal of it for that very reason.
Exercise is widely recognised for its physical benefits such as weight management, cardiovascular health, and disease prevention. But what often goes underappreciated is how physical activity and exercise profoundly affects our psychological well-being. Regular physical activity can reduce anxiety, increase self-esteem, and elevate mood (Biddle & Asare, 2011). You can read more on this topic here:
Ways Physical Exercise Boosts Mental Health.
Despite this, many people find staying active feels like a burden. Why? They don’t enjoy exercising. Whether or not you enjoy exercising is a key determinant of whether people stick to an exercise routine (Rhodes & Kates, 2015). If we can learn to enjoy exercising more, we’re significantly more likely to make it a lasting ad integral part of our lifestyle.
So here, I’m outlining a number of psychological
strategies that are supported by science to help anyone enjoy exercising more and even for it to become something to look forward to.
Read full article here: Psychological Ways to Enjoy Exercising More.
5. You’ll know that in recent years, learning how to use
psychology to boost physical strength has been a pet topic of mine. My social media stories regularly show me lifting weights, increasing strength and sharing how I use psychology to boost physical strength, and at the UK Hypnosis Convention last year, I even gave a lecture and brief demonstration on the topic.
The mind is not merely a passive observer during physical exertion — it is an active participant that can significantly enhance or hinder physical performance.
Psychological factors such as motivation, focus, and mental resilience play crucial roles in determining how much strength we can mobilise during physical tasks. Here, I thought I’d delve into the science of how the mind influences physical strength and provide a few evidence-based strategies to use psychology to boost physical strength.
Read full article here: How to Use Psychology to Boost Physical Strength.
6. The topic of default mode network (DMN) in the brain happens to have received plenty of attention from me in recent months. When I’ve been teaching topics regarding the neuroscience of psychotherapy, treating trauma for hypnotherapists and discussing a range of related topics on my diploma
course, the brain’s default mode network has become oft-cited here.
This is mainly because, in the realm of neuroscience, the Default Mode Network (DMN) has emerged as a pivotal area of study, offering some pretty profound insights into how our brains function during rest and introspection. Once considered merely a passive state, recent research has illuminated the DMN’s active role in various cognitive processes, including self-reflection, memory consolidation, and
creativity. For me and my own research, this has made for very interesting and stimulating exploration within the topic of self-hypnosis too. Understanding and harnessing the DMN can lead to significant improvements in mental health, cognitive performance, and overall well-being and so I thought I’d share some simply explained ways that anyone can benefit from engaging the DMN to improve their daily lives.
Read full article here: Unlocking the Power of the Brain’s Default Mode Network.
