BUILD MENTAL FITNESS WITH THE SELF-COMMAND MUSCLE Based on Positive Intelligence®, a body of work developed by Shirzad Chamine
Three core muscles are at the root of Mental Fitness: Saboteur Interceptor, Sage, and Self-Command. This handout describes just one of the powerful elements of Mental Fitness: the Self-Command Muscle.
WHAT IS MENTAL FITNESS? Mental Fitness is defined as your capacity to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than a negative mindset. The impacts of this practice include better outcomes in all areas of life, such as improvements in:
▸ Productivity ▸ Healthy relationships - Peace of mind - Health & well-being
WHY BUILD THE SELF-COMMAND MUSCLE? The focus of this practice is to help us: Spend less time, energy, and emotion judging ourselves, others, or circumstances; and use a simple technique (PQ [Positivity Quotient] reps) throughout our day in order to:
weaken our inner “Judge”, our source of fear and anxiety, and strengthen our inner “Sage,” our source of inner wisdom and compassion.
WHAT IS THE SELF-COMMAND MUSCLE? The Usefulness of Stress – If we were to accidentally put our hands on a hot stove, we would feel pain and pull away immediately. Now think about the mental pain caused by stress (negative emotion). Just like physical pain, it’s only useful for 1 second as an alert signal. It warns us that something is wrong so that we can do something about it to protect ourselves.
The Self-Command muscle empowers us to take our hand off the hot stove as quickly as possible. We then have the power to shift away from the negative emotion as quickly as possible and think more clearly.
HOW DO WE BUILD THE SELF-COMMAND MUSCLE? The Mental Fitness Operating System works in three steps:
Notice, Stop, and Shift.
STEP 1 - NOTICE YOUR JUDGE/ACCOMPLICE SABOTEURS
Notice throughout the day when awareness of negative emotions of any kind appears. Feelings of frustration, anger, fear, worry, disappointment, stress... These are alerts that your Judge is active.
Ask yourself: 1) What emotion am I feeling? 2) Am I judging myself? 3) Judging others?
4) Judging a situation/circumstance?
Do not linger on the negative emotion. Just notice the form and focus of the Judge and begin to detach.
STEP 2 – STOP: DO PQ REPS PQ reps help to quickly get us out of the negativity in our heads and back into our bodies by paying exquisite attention to a physical sensation. As little as 10 seconds will help to quiet our Judge thoughts and the accompanying emotions. Stay with the practice for several minutes if you can.
A SAMPLER OF PQ REP SUGGESTIONS
Breath ▸ Notice the rise and fall of your breath in your chest and abdomen.
Touch ▸ Rub your thumb and forefinger together with such attention that you feel the ridges on both fingers.
- Wiggle your toes, noticing each one of them.
Sound - Listen for the farthest sounds you can hear (eyes open or closed).
- Listen for the nearest sounds you can hear, including your own breathing.
Sight ▸ Look at something in your physical environment with intense attention, noticing every detail.
I have experienced the transformational power of Mental Fitness, and I wish the same for you.
To learn more about Mental Fitness, including the other core muscles, Saboteurs, Sage, and my coach-facilitated 6-Week PQ Program, schedule a time to chat!
Comentarios