North Star Mental Fitness Blog

Attention Improves Memory

Have you ever wondered why your child not only doesn't do what you ask, but can't even remember what you asked?

Have you ever wondered why the person you love "doesn't get it"?  You have taken great pains to communicate accurately and carefully to no avail.  Why are you always disappointed?

Have you ever wondered why your coworkers and bosses continue to make bad choices?

Have you ever wondered why agencies and clients are resistant to change?

An answer has been discovered in the world of science!

Proving Theories of Mental Fitness

Performance of physical fitness exercises for increasing muscle mass, flexibility and improving health is unquestionably believed and has been experienced by most people.

Since physical exercises are so important for developing physical health, it seemed natural to assume that mental fitness exercises would create mental health.

This assumption has been validated as reported by Sharon Begley who wrote the book, "Train Your Mind Change Your Brain".  Sharon wrote: about the power of a thought:

Changing Your Brain

You Live within the Brain Created by Your Choices!

When I first began writing I Live within the Environment Created by My Choices, I was motivated to show the power of the mind in creating our identities and every day environments.

Scientists historically believed that the adult brain was fixed and immutable.  It was believed that the mind could not change the brain.  Recent research proves these beliefs to no longer be true.

Find out more about the amazing discoveries that you can change your brain as well as your environment!

Six Benefits From Phone Consultations

"Phone Counseling Helps Patients Improve Eating and Exercise Habits," grabbed my attention.  This was the name of an article in NEWSWISE.  MaxHealth and John M Grohol, Psy.D. at PsychCentral also wrote about this article.

"There’s an important use for the telephone in delivering support for making changes to physical activity and diet,” said Elizabeth Eakin, Ph.D., lead study author, at the University of Queensland in Australia".

Phone counseling was beneficial in a research study.  Did you know phone counseling is not a benefit paid for by insurance companies.

One of the big advantages of coaching is providing of services via the phone.  It is much easier to integrate phone coaching into a person's busy lifestyle than preparing for a trip to a counselor's office.

What would your benefits be for enrolling for phone consultation?

Planting Daffodils in Your Life

Karen from Live the Power has a motivating story for all of us.  She entitled her work Daffodil.  Karen shared with her readers the story of Alma (Gene) and her husband Dale Bauer, who created a masterpiece of daffodils in the San Bernadino mountainside.I

"It is the story of how one woman took one step at a time and created a glorious masterpiece of beauty for the world to enjoy", reported Karen.  Take time to enjoy the daffodils in The Daffodil Garden.

Gene not only planted daffodils on the mountainside.  Visit The Daffodil Garden and let her plant ideas in your mind.

Seung-Hui Cho and the Power of Perception

THIS IS NOT A PIPE!

It is a picture of a pipe.  It is not a pipe.  "PERCEPTION ALWAYS INTERCEDES BETWEEN REALITY AND OURSELVES," according to René Magritte.

surrealistThe Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte illustrated the concept of "perception always intercedes between reality and ourselves"^[2] in a number of paintings including a famous work entitled The Treachery of Images, which consists of a drawing of a pipe with the caption, Ceci n'est pas une pipe ("This is not a pipe").

My association of René Magritte's painting of a pipe and Seung-Hui Cho's senseless murders at Virginia Tech is not motivated to minimize the atrocities committed by Seung-Hui Cho or to be insensitive to the families and friends who are experiencing unimaginable loss and grief.

The media has saturated us with national concerns regarding protecting our society from the violent, mentally ill and reopened the issue of gun control. There is no doubt that these are important issues for our society to debate. 

It is important for us not to dismiss Cho's thinking and behavior as only due to mental illness.   Painfully, Cho has shown us the power of perception.

Is there anything we can learn from Cho's thinking and rampage?    What is important for all of us to learn about reality and perception?

Do You Want Elite Fitness?

It's time to leave my comfort zone.  My comfort zone has become too uncomfortable.  With a welcomed medical release from my physician, I have reintroduced myself to my exercise equipment.  As usual, I find myself wanting to put it off or wanting to rush into physical activity.

As I stand in a familiar, comfortable, but discouraging place in my life, I am looking forward to actualized my dream for physical fitness.

As I start again, Greg Glassman coached me well.  I appreciate the following words of caution, clarification and challenge from Greg Glassman of Cross Fit Eastside  in his posting, Intensity, comfort and results.

These are the words of Greg, who calls it the way it is:

The Power of Asking Questions and the Law of Attraction

Actualizing affirmations and energizing the Law of Attraction can be accomplished by asking questions.

Rowan from the blog, Rowan's Future of Choice, wrote an intriguing article "Finding the Right Question to Ask".

Affirmations and visualizations are methods used to release the Law of Attraction, improve performance and develop mental fitness. 

You can increase the power of affirmations, visualizations and the Law of Attraction by asking the right question!

4 Sources of Errors

Robyn McMaster from Brain Based Biz wrote a post asking this important question: How Do Doctors Think and How Do You? 

"Do you take time to step back and take a good look at the basis for your decisions"?

Robyn also went on to say: 

"Jerome Groopman, hematologist at Harvard University took an in-depth look at doctors' decision-making and concentrated on what leads to mistakes. Groopman's findings not only teach us how to approach our doctors with a little more savvy, but also prod us to think deeply about decision-making.

You'd be surprised to know that 80% of medical mistakes are the result of logical fallacies, not being aware of all possibilities and communication with the patient."

What are the four causes of errors?

Counseling, Coaching or Mental Fitness Coaching?

Coaching or Counseling was the name of a post written by Dr. Tara J. Palmatier,  She asked:

What’s the difference between coaching and counseling? How do I decide which is right for me? These are good questions. I asked myself these questions when I first heard the term “life coach.

What more did Dr. Palmatier say?

What is my new analogy to explain the differences between counseling, coaching and mental fitness training?