Mind Hacker by Kátia Almeida

  Did you ever experience guilt for feeling angry, jealous, resentful or greedy? Were you ever told not to be sad or angry? That it is not good for you to be that way? "Get over it and be happy or in control." I get this all the time. If you google positive & negative emotions, you will find thousands of definitions and labels where emotions will fall into one of these categories. Decades of research and theories that support this approach. I've been there as well. Fortunately, I have learned better.   Many of us learn to label emotions as positive or negative. Ultimately, we end up internalizing it as good or bad. If we fail to decode and understand its purpose and meaning, we might be trapped to believe that it is good to feel positive emotions and bad to feel negative ones. Specially with kids, if feeling negative is bad and the kid can't stop it or control it, then he/she must be bad. And this is one of the dangers of labeling emotions like this. You will have...

  "The unattainable best is the enemy of all the available betters, because there are many, many versions of you that you could play out. All of which would result in a well designed life"  (Bill Burnett). I love the possibilites I have to prototype the person I am growing to be. I see it as a joyful thing; the opportunity to improve, learn, relearn, redo, reboot, stop doing. And try again wiser.  For over two decades I have traveled quite a bit, often times by myself to train, coach, meet, learn or get trained. Every time I go to a new place by myself and connect with new people, I always use the opportunity to prototype my authentic self, connect with my essence and seek for another chance to flourish. Instead of showing up with my flaws and limitations, I come with potential strengths that I am working on. Often times related with weaknesses. Because I am touching base with new people, they will take whatever I bring in. And they will see me according to the truth abou...

  Many people start their days digging into social media and emails. If you have opened your eyes in the morning to read my post, then nothing is wrong, you are on the right track. But if you sleep with the phone next to your head or waiting for you in the bathroom, and you dive as soon as possible to what is new on your email box or in the social media platforms, there are great chances you are being driven by FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. The fear of not being included in something that others are experiencing at the unstoppable world that we live in. A world of terrible distractions. This habit, might be followed by rushing through breakfast - if any - stressful running into the work day, at home or in the office. You might need coffee so you spend the next 30 minutes at the coffee spot chatting with your colleagues. The next hour is spent checking emails and of course social media and the news, but nobody needs to know. Another frequent alternative to this work morning routine, a...

  I am an orienteering athlete and a trail runner. I have started running occasionally by the age of 12 and kept going until today. I am 48 now. Ever since, I have been running at the same pace. I evolved by taking longer and more challenging distances and courses - like adventure races and ultra trails - and working harder. What I thought hard work was, considering the mindset I've had at the time.  The thing is I did not evolve at all about my running pace. Because I was convinced that I am a slow runner. I have also convinced myself that my strength came from enduring for several hours, day or night or in extreme weather conditions. These are some of the stories I have told myself for over 3 decades. Four years ago, I have learned to monitor my heart rate to improve my running. I have realized for the first time that I was running up to 130 bpm (beats per minute). I was totally on my comfort zone! So I have scaled it to 140 bpm or more and in less than a month I was able to...