We have the power to control our thoughts. In fact, we are not victims of our negative thoughts. In fact, we let them take hold and contaminate everything. Fortunately, it’s never too late to learn how to control your mind. The good news is that doing this work of mastery can greatly improve the quality of your life. Indeed, when you master your mind, you master your life. So, how do you go about thinking better? Where do you start? Here are my 8 favorite methods. You’ll love them!

1 – Recite a positive mantra

We can choose what we think at any given moment. In fact, it’s important to understand that our negative thoughts are simply bad habits that we’ve allowed to take root, but which we can remove at any time.

Reciting a positive mantra is a powerful way to master your mind. Instead of dwelling on our negative thoughts, we can choose to repeat a powerful, positive phrase to ourselves.

For example: “I’m much stronger than I think I am. “My favorite mantra for more positive thinking is: “I inhale the positive, I exhale the negative. I exhale the negative.”

So take the time to choose your mantra carefully. You can change it regularly. Then, once you’ve chosen one, repeat it as often as possible in the same day. Will you do it?

2 – Practice meditation or yoga to master your mind

To master your mind, you first need to become aware of what’s going on inside it. That’s why it’s a good idea to take up meditation, first to observe your negative thoughts. Then, step by step, you can learn to stop listening to your negative thoughts and let them wash over you.

Yoga is a powerful practice, because it helps us to turn our attention away from our negative thoughts. Because our problem is not so much the presence of our negative thoughts, but the attention we give them. What do you think?

3 – Play sports to control your mind

To have more positive, healthier thoughts, we need to give them movement. In fact, we need to move our bodies in order to master our minds.

Because physical activity secretes happy hormones. These hormones act on our moods, making our thoughts more positive, lighter even. Indeed, after a physical effort, we tend to notice that we’re no longer thinking about anything, and that feels really good!

So doing sport doesn’t mean you have to take up an activity you don’t enjoy or that doesn’t suit you, and do too much of it. On the contrary, start with something you enjoy, like walking, and take it easy. What do you think? Will you do it?

4 – Read personal development books

Mastering your mind is a long-term process. You can’t become a black belt in healthy, positive thinking in a single day. That’s why I wholeheartedly invite you to surround yourself with and draw inspiration from personal development books, as they’ll help you stay focused on your goal of thinking better.

Personally, I read a few pages (or more) of a personal development book every day, because this habit helps me refocus on my goals every day, and it’s very powerful. What do you think?

5 – Start a gratitude journal to master your mind

We can imagine our mind as a garden. In this garden, you have the power and ability to cultivate the thoughts that interest you most. And if you want to cultivate positive, happy, joyful thoughts, then I have the perfect tool for you: the gratitude journal.

In fact, don’t think that we magically nurture positive thoughts. In fact, we nourish positive thoughts, because we nourish beautiful feelings like gratitude, joy, happiness. But how do we do this?

I wholeheartedly invite you to start a gratitude journal. That is to say, every day, take a moment to list at least 3 things that make you grateful right now. It’s a very powerful habit. Will you adopt it?

6 – Practice silence for better thinking

Our minds get restless because we tend to speak out of turn. If we want to have a calm, healthy and positive mind, we need to learn how to speak in a calm, healthy and positive way. But how can we do this?

Start by practicing silence. Indeed, resist the temptation to talk all the time, and often about negative things. Don’t give in to this bad habit, which you’ve probably let fester for too long.

Start now! And never stop practicing. Because it will help you master your mind. What do you think?

7 – Use social networks as little as possible, and select information more carefully

To master your mind, you have to be careful what you put into it. The problem is that these days we spend all our time in front of screens, and there’s a whole lot of information constantly imprinted on our minds. It’s information we haven’t necessarily chosen, and information that is often negative, even toxic.

So, if you want to control your mind, control the information you put into it. To do this, reduce your screen time as much as possible. And be more selective about the information you watch or read. This advice changed my life. What do you think? Will you do it?

8 – Setting goals and developing self-discipline to control your mind

The reason it’s so hard for us to control our thoughts is that we doubt our ability to do so. In fact, we keep telling ourselves all day long how weak and useless we are, and how little willpower we have.

So, to combat these negative beliefs that are holding you back, build up your self-discipline. To do this, regularly set yourself small challenges to help you realize that you are capable of doing what you say you’re going to do.

For example: for the next 2 days, stop eating nutella and replace coffee with tea. Or for the next 2 days, walk 30 minutes a day or do 20 sit-ups a day.

Have fun setting yourself small challenges and, little by little, increase the duration or difficulty. Do it, because it’s the little victories that lead to the big ones. So build up your self-discipline and you’ll succeed in mastering your mind. What do you think?

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover How to stay zen all day long? 9 morning habits to try out!
Discover Starting meditation: 10 mistakes to avoid if you don’t want to give up

I recommend this inspiring book:

The Mind Illuminated by John Yates, Matthew Immergut, Jeremy Graves.

The author combines traditional meditation techniques with contemporary neuroscience to guide us on a transformative journey towards mastery of our mind. This book offers a systematic and comprehensive approach to meditation, with ideas and practical exercises for cultivating concentration, clarity and mindfulness. By understanding how the mind works and implementing the practices described, readers can improve their mental mastery, resulting in increased concentration, emotional balance and overall well-being.

This book is amazing. If you’re a serious meditator interested in enlightenment, this is the guide for you. It’s a profound work of deep knowledge, wisdom and research. Please read it slowly, to allow your mind to absorb the knowledge it contains.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself