Mental Candy vs. Mental Protein — A Lesson from Brian Tracy
Your brain needs the right protein to flourish. Feed it properly.
What you feed to your body, decides how healthy your body becomes.
What you feed your mind, decides what you think and act.
Every time I switch on to the Audible books from Brian Tracy, I only learn. I grow. I become a new person.
Don’t feed your brain with mental candy instead feed him with mental protein.
These are some outstanding words from Brian.
When you allow your mind to open to a new perspective and come out of the existing assumptions, you move towards the life of your choice.
Here is a very popular story to press upon the fact that how limiting beliefs can block our mental, physical, financial and spiritual progress.
The Elephant Rope
There is a story about a man who, as he was passing some elephants, suddenly stopped, confused because these enormous creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. The elephants could break away from their bonds, but they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and did not getaway. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, it conditions them to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
It amazed the man. These animals could break free from their bonds, but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
To understand the difference between mental candy and mental protein, it’s important to break the rope tied to your legs.
Unlearn a few things to learn new ones.
How do you know that there is a rope, and it ties you?
- If you feel you don’t have time for yourself.
- If you consider all others except you as the primary reason for your problems.
- If you are seeing negatives and negativity all around.
- If you are short of creativity.
- If you assume screen time gives you happiness.
- If you are not investing in learning.
How to identify these ropes?
- Write your current belief systems. Don’t judge. Just write what you believe. — “What is that one belief which you think is holding you to become the best version of yourself?”
- Take feedbacks. Ask your family members, friends or colleagues whether you need a course correction.
- Listen. Don’t respond to everything being said or told to you. And then you will see the rope.
- Read. Books and perspective are a great brain opener. Use them.
- Meditate. Spend time with yourself. Your time needs you.
What are these ropes?
- Fear of failure
- Self-doubt
- Prioritizing money over time
- Allowing others to grip your attention
- “I know all,” attitude
- Not being open to new learning and others' perspective
- Holding on to the belief systems passed on to you by your parents, teachers, education system, corporate world, and so on.
How to break the rope?
That’s where advice like these — Mental Protein vs. Mental Candy helps.
Once you feed the right protein to your mind, your mind grows, and it grows in the right direction. Candies give a sugar rush, we are not talking about those one-day or two-day retreat with a personal development program; we are talking about a sustainable method to treat our mind and feed with the right protein.
Mental Candy — Social media feeds, Television, binge-watching, binge-eating, binge-shopping, constantly checking e-mails, flashy NEWS.
Mental Protein — Books, e-books, audiobooks, online courses, meditation, physical exercise, good sleep, healthy food.
So what’s the sustainable way to feed your mind with mental protein?
Small and Consistent efforts.
When I say small, I mean tiny efforts. Just 1%.
If you wish to start a reading habit. Ok. Why go all guns blazing? Target just 5-pages each day.
If you wish to lose weight. Ok. Why pay a hefty gym membership fees? First, feed your mind with the protein. Make it ready. Do small walks each day. Do maybe 5 push-ups each day. Bring continuity. Then take the leap.
If you wish to take an alternative career path. Ok. Why resign, sit idle and start looking for a new job? Start a side hustle instead. Test the waters.
But crucial is to keep it going. Being consistent with this protein diet and then you will slowly see the results.
How to make the transition?
- Acknowledge and identify the mental candies in your daily routine.
- Replace 5-minutes of mental candy each day with 5-minutes of mental protein.
- Increase the 5-minutes by 1% each day. If every day 1% sounds heavy, opt for 1% every two-days.
- Replace TV with Kindle. Replace social media scrolling with a new hobby. Replace mobile games with board/card games. Replace added sugar with natural sugar. Replace hours of useless phone conversations with online learning. Replace social media commenting with a journal practice.
- CONSCIOUSLY opt for mental protein and CONSCIOUSLY discard mental candies.
How to end the urge for mental candies?
Once you make the transition from mental candies to mental protein, your brain cells will undergo changes. There will be re-alignment.
Small and consistent efforts will start showing the impact in a few days. Once the protein gives you positive energy, your urge to get a “candy” surge will automatically die.
If you make mistakes during the course, don't be afraid of them. It’s better to be afraid of “not” making mistakes!
Keep recognizing the importance of making a 1% shift each day.
- If you read 5-pages today, go for a few extra paragraphs tomorrow. Move to 6-pages may be in two days.
- If you walked for 10-minutes today, make it 11-minutes tomorrow.
- If you reduce your TV time by 15-minutes today, make it 20-minutes, maybe tomorrow.
- If you bring your smartphone’s unlock count from 200 to 190, reduce it by further 5 tomorrow.
Don’t let your mind enter a shell with “big” and “daunting” changes. Such changes give you a “kick” and “excitement” on day 1, but then the excitement dies its natural death the next day.
The only way to sustain the “Mental Protein” is to carry on with the Small and Consistent philosophy.
Chinese proverb — “If you don’t change your direction, you’re likely to end up where you’re heading.”
It’s not only important to feed the physical body the right protein, but it’s also critical to feed your mind with the right protein too.
Identify the mental candies in your life and replace them with mental protein.
Nishith is a Marathoner, an avid reader, aspiring author, YouTuber, Podcaster, and a personal transformation coach. His simple philosophy and belief — “Small and Consistent Improvements.”
He is the creator of a unique self-transformation platform — “Be Better Bit-By-Bit,” through which he endeavours to bring small positive changes in people’s lives each day.
Listen to his Be Better Bit-By-Bit and 10 Bullets — 100 Words Book Summary podcasts.