I Want Mind Games

For my body to be healthy, I eat well, run and workout. But I can be lazy, so to make sure I work out regularly, I put some structure in place … a future race, a schedule and accountability.

Right now, I’m following a training schedule for an April half-marathon. I do the long run each weekend with others and I work out (yoga and cross-train) twice a week with a group.

Sometimes I wonder why I push my body … but it’s what makes me feel fully alive. And I’ve been close enough to death to realize that since I’m alive ………. I want to fully live!

photo © 2007 Simon ‘Kelp’ Keeping | more info (via: Wylio)

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A recent post by Rachelle Gardner confirmed what I believe about pushing limits in life. In it she says, “I purposely push myself to my limits and beyond sometimes, because it reminds me that I can always do more than I think I can.”

So if pushing my body is good … pushing my mind is good also, right? Writing and editing my book has/is pushing my mind, but I’m thinking maybe if my mind had been pushed to the limit more, this whole book writing process would have been easier.

Is it possible to use a similar structure of a plan, schedule and accountability that I use to push my body to push my mind?

When I think of a structure for the mind, I think of school and classes. I don’t think I want to tackle any of them right now. From time to time, I go to conferences and learn. I love books, but haven’t been reading a lot lately. So I’m going to aim to read more … at least an hour every evening from a range of books. I also like to read blogs … I try to read a balance of fun, entertaining and educational ones. I also like TED talks and find they challenge me to think.

What else can I do? Have you thought about stretching your mind? I would love suggestions from you on how to stretch and strengthen my mind.

What can I do to push my mind to the limit? What tests? What exercises? What mind games?