The Disciplined Mind
by Zoe McKey
★★★★★
Hits home with useful advice for all of us
The Disciplined Mind: Strengthen Your Willpower, Develop Mental Toughness, Control Your Thoughts, and Get Rid of Your Inner Critic
How many times have you looked across a room to see someone you thought was judging you or talked to someone you decided was bored with your conversation? Zoe McKey has a word of wisdom: that person not even thinking about you in that moment; they’re wrapped up in their own life and their own problems. We assume people are paying more attention to us than they actually are which leads us to assign them emotions that we are simply imagining. In The Disciplined Mind, McKey brings a lot of such misconceptions to the forefront, starting her rewording of the serenity prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot control, courage to change the things that I can control, and wisdom to know the difference.”
McKey tackles everything from procrastination, our fear of missing out, nonverbal communication, building habits, stress, anxiety, perfectionism, priorities, failure, and so much more. Her wisdom is an advanced common sense, in that when you read it, it immediately strikes home, aligns with what you know, and you can think of so many circumstances that it applies to. At the core is choosing what we control, not turning over our right to be happy to the opinions of others, choosing to make the right choices, whether it’s to practice a new skill, accepting that it will take work and perseverance, rather than just being jealous of those who have worked and achieved that skill we desire.
Overall, this is a book about choosing what is important in life, our passion, our goal, and not allowing anything or anyone stop us, including ourselves. It is so easy to assume that others have it easier, whether it’s a perfect dinner on Instagram or a perfect vacation displayed on Facebook. McKey points out that we judge our worst moments by others’ best moments. She reminds us that looking at social media is like looking at a picture of someone on the peak of Mount Everest. We see them only as they pose at the peak at the moment of their triumph. We don’t see the struggle to get to the mountain, the conditions of the climb up, the tears shed, the hard work and the failures… Everything before that moment on the peak does not exist to us. And yet it is that journey and all the work and hardship that got them there that is important. We have to remember when we see what others choose to show us that those pictures and their stories represent only their best moments and that they have low moments and struggles just as we do. There is no reason to feel inferior.
We have to stop worrying about what others might possibly be thinking of us, realizing that they probably aren’t thinking of us at all, and live our lives developing our own sense of self-worth. We have to determine for ourselves what we are passionate about and pursue that as our goal, rather than being distracted by all the other things around us.
There is so much in this book that is helpful advice for anyone. I think McKey’s methods can really help us focus on what is important, what has value… And what we know is within our control and what is not. She encourages us not to blame others for our lives or to expect others to change; we must take responsibility for and improve our own lives. We need to choose our life’s focus because if we allow ourselves to focus on too many things, everything will suffer, and yet we must leave some dreams behind to pursue the dream that matters most to us. McKey also urges us to remember that we are a work in progress and we need to not only not worry about what others think of us, but forgive ourselves and move on if we make mistakes.
Overall, a very thoughtful read and a great focus for self-improvement.
Book description
Do you fail to follow your plans despite your best intentions? Are your mental toughness and willpower keeping you from the life you want?
If your life is starting to resemble a never-ending hamster wheel from a lack of intentional action – you need to discipline your mind.
Dreaming day and night doesn’t create the life you want – disciplined action does.
Where you end up in life is determined by a number of times you fall and get up, and how much pain and discomfort you can withstand along the way. The path to an extraordinary accomplishment and a life worth living is not innate talent, but focus, willpower, and disciplined action.
Maximize your brain power and keep in control of your thoughts.
In The Disciplined Mind, you will find unique lessons through which you will learn those essential steps and qualities that are needed to reach your goals easier and faster.
Take control over your life.
-Learn about 3 types of stress and how can you turn stress to your benefit;
-Key steps to patience and self-discipline;
-The method for focused action and maximum productivity;
-How to overcome the fear of failure;
-Get the results you want.
With a disciplined mind you will be able to live a more stress-free and well-balanced life. You won’t sabotage yourself with negative self-talks, procrastination, and unintentional behavior. You’ll learn to prioritize your tasks to harness the most productive results – even on those days when you are not in a good mood.
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