Don Macpherson - How to Master Your Monkey Mind: Overcome anxiety, increase confidence and regain control of your life

1. 1 Zen Breathing
   How to Be Calm and Relaxed
2. 2 Mind the Monkey!
   How to Think More Positively Using Progressive Language
3. 3 The Kaizen
   How to Always Improve
4. 4 Hollywood Movie
   How to Be More Confident
5. 5 Get Out of Your Head
   How to Concentrate and On-demand Focus
6. 6 Feathering the Brakes
   How to Introduce More Control into Your Life
7. 7 Neurobics
   How to Generate More Brain Power
8. 8 The Immune-system Booster
   How to Think Yourself Well
9. 9 Better Sleep
   How to Wake Up Feeling Refreshed and Reenergized
10. 10 The Anxiety Buster
    Your Personal Mp3

Don Macpherson is a British mind coach who combines mind-management techniques and hypnosis with an in-depth knowledge of modern neuroscience. His most high-profile work has been coaching dozens of world-class sports professionals, including F1 racing drivers, Premiership footballers, international rugby players and Wimbledon tennis champions. Over thirty years Don has also helped countless other people with a diverse range of issues such as anxiety, stress, lack of confidence and relationship problems. Don takes challenging mind-management concepts, and makes them easy to understand and to put into practice.

To Jane, Katie and Hannah

Bring me your brain and I will tune it for you.
Better still, I will explain how you can
service and tune your own brain,
and master your Monkey Mind.

Are you a worrier? Do everyday challenges weigh you down? Do stress and anxiety fog up your mind? Do you wish you could tackle the bigger issues with more confidence and clarity? Do you struggle to stay on track at work, socially, and in life generally? Do you ever really sleep properly? How balanced is your relationship with food? Do you look around and see others maybe friends, colleagues, or even famous individuals appearing so capable and wonder why that isnt you? Would you like to stop worrying unnecessarily?

Your life can change from this moment.

I have been studying and working in the field of mind management and mental health for over twenty-five years, and in this book I will draw on that ongoing research and those years of experience to help you tune your own brain and change your life. My approach is a blend of knowledge amassed from working closely and studying with neuroscientists and neurosurgeons; Buddhist teachings; and decades of studying and practising ethical, clinical hypnosis.

Combining these complementary fields of expertise, I have evolved a revolutionary system of Tools that will allow you to take back control of your life. The techniques and ideas in this book have been forensically road-tested during years of mind coaching high-profile clients and members of the public often in very demanding and, at times, high-risk circumstances. I aim to offer you actual, real-world Tools that will teach you how to deal with issues relating to anxiety, sleep, diet, confidence, relationships and more.

You will discover proven and tested techniques to help you:

• understand and change how you breathe in order to help you face down anxiety with confidence and control;
• use language and positivity to Mind the Monkey in your head;
• learn the ancient art of the Kaizen to transform your life, little by little;
• discover the Tool used by Wimbledon-winners to hit that crucial match-winner under the watchful eyes of millions, and learn how this idea can help you visualize and achieve your own goals;
• discover how ideas utilized by a world-leading heart surgeon to remain calm under the life-or-death pressure of the operating theatre can transform your own confidence and performance under stress;
• take a fresh and calmer approach to life, replacing haste and panic with serenity;
• turbo-boost your brain power and self-esteem, strengthening your mental resilience and confidence;
• use the power of your brain to boost your immune system;
• and sleep properly, waking up feeling refreshed, positive and raring to go!

I will explain the concept of the so-called Monkey Mind, which I have been working with ever since I first read about its origins over twenty years ago. Since then I have absorbed the notion into my daily working practice, complementing it with a comprehensive knowledge of modern neuroscience. By definition, these are deeply complex and challenging academic subjects whose complexity is often simply too difficult for many individuals to grasp (particularly people with pre-existing mental challenges). It has been my long-standing ambition to take these topics and make them accessible and understandable to a wider audience.

My unique package of Tools will equip you with techniques to bounce back from adversity and struggles real or perceived using mental training that has been tried and tested by international sports stars, celebrities, and hundreds of everyday people. Success on the outside begins with success on the inside, and this book will show you how to learn and master my Tools so that you will be able to take charge of your own life and become your own mind coach.

Each Tool is illustrated with a case study from a real-world situation, to demonstrate how these techniques have transformed lives.

In the past I have started to read so many books on the subject of mind management, and to be perfectly honest I have put them down halfway through. I was looking for advice and help, and I found myself blinded by science. I dont want you to find yourself in a similar position so let me do the heavy lifting for you, by taking elements of ancient teachings, hypnosis, neuroscience and modern mind management in order to give you the Tools to take control of your mind. Whatever the scale of your challenge, and no matter how entrenched your issues, this book will equip you with the Tools and knowledge to permanently transform yourself from Worrier to Warrior.

I guess if Im going to be poking around inside your head, I should at least introduce myself properly. It would be rude not to. So let me explain briefly the journey that has brought me to the most rewarding job in the world.

Some say your school days are the best years of your life, but Ive never really understood why anyone would think that mine certainly werent. Far from it, in fact. I just couldnt, or wouldnt, apply myself at school. Exam time was always horrendously stressful, although that might have had something to do with the fact I never bothered to do the necessary revision! To make matters worse, my parents were both very successful, hard-working, popular, and doing everything they could to ensure I had a good education and there I was, seemingly wasting that opportunity.

My mum was a very clever lady from Derbyshire who became a grammar-school teacher and then went on to be a Justice of the Peace. My dad was an old-fashioned, old-school doctor, in the sense that he had time for everybody. In the 1960s, he was brave enough to leave a comfortable practice where he was about to become the senior doctor to instead take up a role as the local GP in a so-called overspill estate called Hattersley on the outskirts of Manchester.