If you want more control, do this. This is your daily message from Chad number 579 and this message is dedicated to the amazing Terrie Wurzbacher (Her Hotline number is 210-390-6100).

If you want to control your performance, you first have to control yourself. To control your life you have to control your thoughts. You are at the controls of an amazingly complicated, powerful tool. It’s called your brain.

Did you know your little 3 pound jug of cholesterol that’s at the top of your body is estimated to have 2.5 petabytes of memory? That’s the equivalent of 3 million hours of TV shows. Memory is just one amazing feature of your mind. Its adaptive ability is called neuroplasticity. You can continue to learn and reorganize information your whole life. It recognizes patterns, it is self-aware (that’s called consciousness), and seamlessly integrates multiple senses for a coherent perception of the world. 

We talked yesterday about your thoughts being like the steering wheel of a car. Just as a tiny wheel directs a comparatively big machine down the road, so your mind is guiding your life. But you are often unaware of your thoughts. Your arms are folded, but your foot is pressing down on the pedal. You must control your thinking if you’re going to control your life.

So how do you do that? How do you gain control of your thinking? Just like you gain control of any part of your life. You have to train your brain. Let’s compare this with money, diet, and exercise. These are areas we readily accept that need to be controlled and disciplined. If you had a trainer, budget advisor, nutritionist, or fitness trainer, one of the first things they would guide you to do is to gain awareness of your spending, caloric intake, and movement. All of them would require some sort of record keeping. They would have you track your spending, what you’re eating, and what exercises you’re doing.

You can do the same thing with your thoughts. Now, researchers estimate you have 6 to 10 thousand thoughts each day. You can record them all. But you can write down the themes and phrases. This is why journaling is such a powerful practice. If you want to gain awareness, get your thoughts on paper (or on your phone if that works for you). This is the bottom line: write it down. Even if it’s three phrases or five stories. Do this everyday. I know this sounds simple. If you work it, it will work. You will become more mindful. You may be humming the tune, but you don’t know the song. Until you’re aware of the storylines you tell yourself you won’t be able to address them.