It’s an easy mistake to make – thinking of creating health as involving only physical actions.

You address the Brain-Body Connection through specific chiropractic care, properly fuel your body via Eat By Design foods, and receive adequate exercise by following Move By Design protocols.

You experience more energy, better sleep, a stronger immune system, and clearer thinking.

The assumption is you’re doing everything you need to live an extraordinary life and the results speak for themselves.

Not so fast!

To truly be well, you must do everything, at the same time, for a period of time, preferably a lifetime.

The most overlooked requirement for optimizing our health and maximizing your life is fulfilled by the actions and processes that occur right between your ears.

Your Greatest Gift

The mind is the greatest gift humans have, and our ability to think consciously helps define us as a species.

Without deliberate thought regarding the nature of your existence and why you wake up every day, you’re relegated to living the life the world defines for you.

Welcome to the status quo.

Requirements For An Extraordinary Life

Just as there are physiological needs like food, movement, sleep and nerve supply, there are also mental requirements like a philosophy, self-esteem, vision, purpose and strategy.

We know thought is required for an optimal life because, in order to thrive in this world, we must learn.

Take, for example, our physiology: though much of the body runs automatically, we must ensure the required needs are met in order for the “autopilot” to optimize its expression – it’s thinking that delivers. Food added into the body will be broken down and utilized as nutrients to the best of the body’s ability – but it is thought that brings it to the mouth.

In order to survive in the world you must learn, and to gain knowledge you must think. This makes thinking a primary human necessity for life and a fundamental By Design concept.

The 5 Requirements For A Healthy Mind

1. Conscious Philosophy
2. High Self Esteem
3. Unquestionable Purpose
4. Crystal Clear Vision
5. Congruent Action Plan

In Part 1 of this 5 Part Series we’re going to discuss Step 1: The importance of defining your conscious philosophy.

What Do You Believe?

“As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation – or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind’s wings should have grown.” ~ Ayn Rand

Developing a philosophy is one of the most powerful and exciting experiences a human being can ever have.

A philosophy is your framework for dealing with reality. It guides your decisions, it lets you know if what you think is possible or if what you think is impossible, it programs your beliefs, helps you find love and make friends; it could be the cause of your self-doubt, or it could give your mind wings.

More importantly, you need a philosophy to live. If you didn’t have one, you wouldn’t know how to act.

So the question is not “Do I need a philosophy?” but instead, “How do I go about consciously developing my philosophy?”

Most people in the world hold philosophy as a trivial exercise, something over coffee on Sunday afternoon with no real world impact.

For the most part they do not want to accept a conscious philosophy because they think that life will be easier “just living, not thinking all of the time.”

Ignorance is NOT bliss. The negation of thinking does not absolve you from the consequences of not thinking.

The more conscious you become about what you think and why you think it, the clearer your thoughts become, the better your life becomes, and the more you know what to do and how to take action.

Simply understanding the importance of philosophy and its proper definition will be of tremendous benefit to your life.

It Can Be Challenging

Developing your conscious philosophy can be a daunting and difficult endeavour.

Find a quiet, inspirational location and, with a journal of your choice, begin to think about and then write down what you “believe” about the core areas of your life. What do you believe about health? Do you believe that your body is a machine, built to breakdown and develop disease, or do you believe it is extraordinary and designed to be healthy if you make the correct choices? What do you believe about parenting? What do you believe about money?

The power of this exercise is phenomenal in helping us understand more about what we don’t know regarding ourselves and our beliefs.

As discussed, what you believe (your philosophy) determines your actions, and it is your actions that dictate your legacy. This makes understanding what you think about important areas of life vital to either accepting those beliefs as true or deciding to alter a belief in order to align more closely with reality.

As you can see, having beliefs that you are unaware of, or built on a faulty premise, will lead to actions in contrast to what the nature of reality is. The result will always be destruction.

Check back soon for upcoming blog posts on the other 4 requirements for a healthy mind.

Click HERE to download a copy the complete Think By Design Manual including all 5 requirements along with the best strategies to fulfill each of them.

Dr. Michael Gibson has committed himself to helping others to live the best life possible. After graduating with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, he received his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree and Masters of Science in Chiropractic Sports Science from Life University.   He is the co-creator of Life By Design, owner of The Wellness Group, and co-owner of CrossFit 613. His passion for empowering families runs deep. After experiencing the loss of his sister due to illness, Michael’s purpose became reaching and teaching as many as possible the foundational principles of an extraordinary life.  Since that time he has passionately pursued and been successful in living out his dream. He maintains a busy family chiropractic practice, a full speaking schedule and finds time to implement the principles and practices of Life By Design in his own life.