Retrain your brain for success, one smile at a time

Humans are creatures of habit and our brains function through repetition. We train our thoughts and our actions through daily routines. These routines become common practice and soon working, eating, sleeping and every aspect of our life is a regular occurrence, none of it feels like work anymore, simply a natural progression of daily living.

In this blog I have argued that creative personalities see things a little different from others. We create a different reality, not seen by anyone else. We share our views through our art to make others aware of what our mind's eye sees. I'm learning through my travels and new people I meet that we all have some form of creativity living inside of us.

In this piece I want to explore the measure of success. What do you consider a successful day, a momentous occasion? Waking up in the morning and accomplishing making another person smile is a very successful day in my opinion. But we all have to make a living and we all have to pay the bills, realistically a smile does not accomplish putting money in the bank. Or does it?

There are countless self help books out there that all say the same thing, The Secret, Life is a Contact Sport and my personal favorite, The Artist's Way. These are only tips of the iceberg, do your own research there are countless books that can help guide you that will speak to your own needs; bottom line is, we create our own reality. Regardless your religious or political beliefs no one makes success for you, except you. Having said that, no one gets there without help. Remember to respond kindly and help others on the journey behind you. Always educate yourself and continuously question the world and all that is involved, knowledge is power and is the number one tool to success.

Actions make reality. Think of a goal you want to obtain and make a plan. Planning and goal setting is a sure fire way to reach any dream. Dreams are reality in the making. Build a trustworthy team that is like minded to your needs. Success is more realistic when learning and sharing your experiences with others on the same path. Failure is not an option, but the pitfalls and road blocks are inevitable, adapt, adjust and overcome. Never let negativity discourage you from a reality that is waiting in the wings.

I propose starting by retraining our brains to think and do different things. Nothing changes unless you make a change. I have spoken of this many times throughout this blog, the repetition is me practicing what I preach, I am retraining my brain, so positive thoughts and actions become second nature it is no longer a chore to accomplish, it is simply how I live. I'll keep repeating it until it sinks in and maybe if you are reading and sharing, it will benefit you as well.

Challenge yourself to The 7 Day Mental Diet, By Emmet Fox. I'm a huge proponent of Emmet Fox's teachings. I'm not saying it is easy, but if you successfully complete it, the positive nature can change your life. I have started and stopped many times and still in the process myself.

Success in my point of view is dusting yourself off when you have fallen and try again. Learn from mistakes so you do not repeat them and keep looking forward. I believe if you do what you love the rest falls into place, I also believe nothing is handed to you, we must always relentlessly set small goals in order to reach the bigger picture. I do not believe you can be successful, by stepping on other people or abusing trust. Karma has a way of coming back to haunt us, apologize profusely when you have unintentionally hurt someone and always help when you are able to do so. I believe you get back what you put out, it is our responsibility as humans to make this world a more loving place. A smile can lead to success because it is creating a habit that soon changes how you think and live and soon the changes unfold as naturally as breathing.

Maybe in the environment we have been living we may have all lost sight of certain habitual luxuries we normally take for granted. Retrain our brains for success. Wake up each morning regardless what challenge you must face and say today I'm facing it with a smile. Ignore the naysayers trying to put negativity in your path. Happy living is successful living and success should be shared and celebrated.

Someone told me once, you only lose if you stop trying, so don't give up. I would love to hear your opinions and success stories, if you decide to try the challenge, please share your experience. If you feel negative feelings creeping in, stop, take a breath, maybe even take a day or two, then try again. We are all in this journey together, we are all interconnected whether we want to believe it or not. The world can be better and as a team we can all succeed one smile at a time. 

Creative Personality Perks

There has been countless studies about humans and their personalities, particularly that of us creative types. I think understanding how we think and operate would open some insight to living more innovative lives.

We are quirky in the best sense of the word, in my opinion. Speaking from my own experiences, I can admit I do walk to the beat of my own drum as do most of us. I think
because I have also worked in corporate America for a fortune 500 company for countless years, that has allowed me to develop a better balance between my left and right brain. None the less, I have always favored my right brain and it pretty much dictates all my actions even when it is borrowing from the left side.

I do not know if the rest of the world is as obsessed with our brains and its functions as I am, but it is a fascination that has afforded me my ability to create a personality out of thin air. As a writer you want your characters to be believable, the best way to do that is to build on their personality. Visual descriptions play a large role in creating a believable character but descriptive personalities put you in that character's head. There is no one person that is identical to the other, even twins. We all are who we are, good, bad or indifferent.

Having said that, our brains work through patterns, we are creatures of habit. Anyone who says creativity is inherited, I beg to differ. It is a learned skill that can be tapped into if you understand the thoughts as they pass by in your head. If you are not normally creative you can retrain your brain by practicing and creating new habits.

If you are interested, visit and join this website: LUMOSITY. It is a series of games that help exercise and sharpen your brain. There are also several fascinating articles that explain the science behind the site.

Creative types are often tireless when it comes to creating we can go on for hours working on our art but tend to get exhausted quickly when undertaking a chore we do not like. It is common for us to be extremely intellectual, however our intelligence is questioned by others because we are caught in deep thought often. It goes with out saying we are viewed as irresponsible, but I feel our playful nature and warmheartedness is misunderstood. In fact, we are very reliable and have incredible self-discipline. We tend to be our own worst critics.

Our imaginations dominate our daily lives, sometimes we do tend to revel in both reality and fantasy indiscriminately. We like our privacy, but know how to play the game and enjoy interacting with others depending on our mood and what frame of mind we're in at any given moment. We can also be extremely prideful as well as humble; being very proud of our creations but hoping someone else notices without having to fish for the compliment.

We do tend to be a bit more open minded, we are conservatively rebellious. We are argumentative when we are passionate about something, but are good listeners. We evaluate all possible scenarios before drawing conclusions. Politically we are more centrists than anything else. Our sensitivity is unsurpassed we are extremely empathetic because we feel deeper than most and it often sets us up for pain and suffering. The good news is we use those emotions to create and we find our creations very cathartic.

In conclusion whether you view these traits as good or bad our art depends on these attributes. If you are looking for a more creative life start paying attention to the world around you and try to see the same view from several different angles. We could all learn from each other and we should always keep an open mind regardless which side of our brain is dominant. Understanding our thought process plays a huge role in creating a more friendly and creative environment.