Mind Hacker by Kátia Almeida

  We have a natural or unconscious tendency to resist new or anything going against our perceptions and beliefs. Especially if there is a paradox involved. In fact, our attitudes and beliefs are the software programs driving us everyday on life's journey. So it is easy to polarize, look at the two sides of the same coin and choose one side as the "right one" and stick to it. And it becomes our absolute truth. The higher the resistance from both sides, the greater chances for us to hold on ferociously to our "own truth" and begin the right vs wrong battle for the one and only sacred truth - our own of course!  Today more that ever we see a polarized world. And an increasing pressure to take a stand and choose a side. The more distant and extreme the different views are, the more we feel the pressure of "if you are not with us - or like us - then you are against us."  This is the shape of a wary world and life, where we have to defend ourselves and our t...

  "If you are not making a lot of mistakes and failing, you are going to be mediocre. Because if you are not making mistakes and failing, you are doing what you did yesterday."  (Richard Branson) When do we stop asking questions to advance growth and learning? How often do we ask ourselves about what do we want to experience in life? How do we want to grow and develop ourselves? Or how do we want to contribute to the world? Regardless our age. Is your life filled with joy and connection? Do you dedicate your time, energy and commitment to the things you value the most? Does "those things" value you back? Or do you sit behind the same desk for over a decade, repeating similar sequences and routines over and over again? Going out there, exploring the world, trying new things might be an amazing opening and flourishing strategy to experience novelty, learning and evolving. If you are open to the right mind, spiritual and heart set for the experience. If not, you will b...

  What is your definition of success? Pause for a moment and think about it. List the top 3 things that need to happen in your life in order for you to feel successful. Or if you believe you are successful, what is your criteria? What are the first things that come to your mind?  Is it about reaching something - like a degree, a job position or a podium prize? Or having something - like a certain house, a car or status? Or getting along with certain people?  Have you ever got what you wanted, but then found yourself unsatisfied, wanting more? You might be thinking about success in terms of upward gains, continually acquiring more and doing better. This happens for many of us naturally: consciously or unconsciously we rank ourselves and others according to our external achievements. Many societies and the environments where we live, teach us success as a scarcity formula. That success means reaching the top of something and only a few can reach it. And no matter what we sh...

  Many of us grew up with the idea that to succeed in life we've got to work hard. Study many hours a day, be the nº 1 student in class, win the podium medals at all times, be the best player no matter what. The hard work idea, is embedded in performance cultures that are still dominant in the western world. Both in our homes and work settings. The emphasis is placed in results, often times undermining psychological safety. Even though the common language today is around the importance of experimentation and the search for new ways, specially in times of uncertainty, people often get punished for failures and mistakes. As a consequence, they become worried about proving their competence and protecting themselves. The pressure to conform to authority is real and our increasing lack of confidence in our expertise will lead to obedience to the norm and the death of creativity.  The idea of Hard Work, is associated with long working hours, placing work as the maximum priority and ...

Some of us live with this fantasy that days should have more hours, since we keep running out of time. Just think about it: What would you change if you've had more hours in a day? How would you use the extra time? What different choices would you make with more time? Or would you just use the extra time to add more things into your plate? The world today demands that we do things faster or add more things for the same amount of time. And we've never had as many tools and knowledge as today to get things done. But it seems like is even harder than before. The truth is it doesn't really matter how many hours a day have. Because there is no such thing as time management. We cannot manage something as predictable and unchangeable as time. The way we've framed the problem - time management - is causing us to fail continuously. In the late 80's, Stephen Covey introduced the idea of Importance and Urgency as the main measures to determine how to manage time and tasks. The...

 If you've gotten this far, thank you! I am grateful for the time you have dedicated reading my previous mind hacks. If this is your first time reading my posts, please go ahead and read the previous ones. If you are still interested, hope you like what I have to share with you over the next 5 weeks. This second season, will continue to tackle our beliefs and hopefully will guide you to a more open attitude towards life and what you consider to be the truth. It will also guide you to the amazing journey of recognizing what you do not know and embracing the magic of relearning as an attitude towards life. As I have mentioned before, if you are comfortable with your settled brain, you do not need to read my posts anymore. But if you want to be challenged to perceive yourself and the world differently, and continue to challenge your beliefs and perceived truths, then come with me on this journey. Because if you do not hack your brain, someone else will! For the next 5 weeks, I wi...

  Were you taught as growing up that bad things happen to bad people? If you do something wrong or misbehave, something bad will happen to you. You will be punished. If this was part of your education, you might believe that if something bad happens, you might have done something to deserve it. On the other hand, if you feel like you are well behaved and did nothing wrong, you might believe that you do not deserve whatever bad thing is happening to you. Why me? This is the daily life of a victim. And we have all been there.  Playing the victim rarely gets anyone what they want and ultimately, friends, family or coworkers will be pushed away. The victim will complain about complaining and then complain that they can't stop complaining. The place of a victim is an easy one to get into and a hard one to get out of. The "why me" victim style comes with this feeling that what you are going through is unique and it only happens to you. The truth is that everyone at any given ti...

Once upon a time, an old farmer lived in a valley with his son, a handsome and dutiful youth. They lived a peaceful life despite a lack of material possessions. They were very happy. One day, the old man borrowed money from the neighbors to buy a young and beautiful horse. The very same day he bought it, there was a huge storm. The frightened horse jumped the fence and escaped into the hills. The neighbors came to express their concern, "Oh, that's too bad. How are you going to work the fields now? And how are you going to repay us?" The farmer shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Good thing? Bad thing? Who knows?" A few days, while walking in the forest to gather new ideas, he bumped into his horse that was peacefully grazing the grass together with another eight fine horses. The farmer took them all, brought them back to the stable and built a taller fence so that the horses couldn’t escape. The neighbors again gathered around, "Oh, how lucky! We thought ...

  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...

  We all know what will happen if I decide to jump off a cliff. Gravity will take care of the rest. Unfortunately I will not fly. Even though human beings came up with brilliant solutions for flying, we did not grow wings in our bodies. I did a reality check with sky diving. It was not flying but the most spectacular, fastest and safer fall ever! Having a body that does not allow me to fly it is not a problem. But a circumstance of my life. We all know people that find themselves miserable about complaints related with a colleague, the spouse, the boss, being over weight, smoking addiction, choices overload, no choices or chronic diseases. Not to mention things that have happened to them in the past. It feels like there is always a complaint about something. Often times, they have done nothing to change it.  The fact is that we cannot solve a problem we are not willing to have. If it is not in our power to change it - like gravity - or if we are not willing to do anything abou...

For the past two decades, I've been devoting a good amount of time understanding how much people beliefs trap them into faulty thinking about themselves and the world around them.  In some way, we all anchor in our life our deepest beliefs and what we assume to be the truth. It makes our existence easier, more predictable. Safer.  But the world is not a predictable place. While facing adversity, we might be more prepared if we challenge some of our deepest dysfunctional or limiting beliefs and exercise our brains by generating alternatives, specially those that do not come natural to us. If you are comfortable with your settled brain, you do not need to read my posts anymore. Thank you for baring with me until this point. But if you want to be challenged to perceive yourself and the world differently, then come with me on this journey. Because if you do not hack your brain, someone else will! For the next seven weeks, I will publish each week a detailed description of the mind...