While split-personalities are generally unwanted, I find that viewing the mind as three to be extremely helpful.
What are the three minds?
Experience Mind
Commentary Mind
Strategy Mind
Let's explain them a little further:
The Experience Mind
This is the consciousness you read books to obtain.
The mind that you seek to obtain through meditation teachers, and flow states.
It's the mind that you get peeks of, and as you train your concentration and mindfulness, you get greater access to the state.
And as you get more expertise in a particular area, you also gain some additional time in the state.
It's the no-mind state that you use to 'charge' a sigil, or (*disgusted voice*) 'manifest' things.
It's where your solutions are hiding.
So, how do you get to your solutions?
Practicing meditation can help.
But another thing that can help is focusing on something, nearly anything that is relevant to your desired outcome.
With training you can get better at tuning out that counterproductive voice that likes to haunt our peace of mind. Let's talk more about that version of mind:
The Commentary Mind
Think of the Commentary Mind as the Director's Commentary on a DVD, often if that director was drunk and sleep deprived.
The commentary comes in the form of both words and images.
Mental mirages appear, trying to convince you that focusing on *it* is more important than resting in Experience Mind.
It tells you that if you don't listen to it, disaster will strike. But even with your focus fixed to its vocal and visual gaze, you'll feel like disaster struck regardless.
It's the film sidekick that always thinks the clouds are going to collapse on to your skull. It thinks it's spotting warning signs, when Experience Mind is the one best equipped to actually resolve disaster.
But sometimes a dialogue between Experience and Commentary Mind can be beneficial. Which leads us to the third Mind:
Strategy Mind
Strategy Mind is kind of like the studio where Experience and Commentary Mind work together.
The canvas can be something like spotting a problem and asking my favorite question: 'What would need to be true for ____ to fail?'
You get to entertain the worst case scenarios your Commentary Mind might naturally spin, and work on making the opposite happen.
Focusing on what W. Timothy Gallwey calls "Critical Variables": the things that can make or break the subject at hand, keeps you in Experience Mind, while satiating the need for safeguarding that your Commentary Mind might scream at you to obtain.
It's a way to reorient yourself in the right direction, so you can get back to Experience. Where making positive outcomes has to take place.
How The Three Interact With Each Other
The withdrawal from Commentary Mind (in the form of anxious uncertainty) makes you think you need Commentary Mind, instead of staying in Experience Mind and being with the discomfort that will pass as all things pass.
So: the void you think you're filling with Commentary Mind was created with Commentary Mind.
If you're distracted by Commentary Mind, you're not taking in as much information as you would with Experience Mind, leaving you vulnerable to blunders and mistakes.
Social media is a place where we’re exposed to tons of information, so it feels valuable.
We're exposed to a lot of information when we're present as well.
The difference is, the latter kind of information is immediately relevant and useful. Social media sourced information is in the guise of useful, but it's often hollow, and soon to be expired.
We're afraid to let go of Commentary Mind because we're afraid of missing something. We think our survival is dependent on that stream of information because we can't tell the difference between what's useful and what isn't.
We don't change this constant chatter because we think it's helpful or enjoyable in some way. And because we think it's too hard to stop. But it can be changed.
Strategy Mind is best used as a means to the end of Experience Mind.
With Strategy Mind, we oreint ourselves, and get ourselves pointed in a particular direction. A direction aligned with what seems to be best for us.
Then, presence and experience helps to take us to where we want to go.
When we let go of our running commentary, we’re more likely to find peace. And our vision and mental vision is less likely to be clouded, allowing us to find solutions that were sitting there in the background the whole time.
It’s hard to believe if we’re someone used to living inside our heads. But trying to go against the grain of that naturally chatter can be one of the most rewarding things we can do.
Final Thoughts
Scientists can't crack your skull open and find the Three Minds.
Consider it a scaffolding that helps you operate better in your day-to-day. Labeling the three, and noticing when you're in one or the other can be half the battle.
Being aware of what's happening in the moment is the heart of Experience Mind. It's where the mental magic happens.
Where you're free from anxiety, while also furthering your objectives.
It's not easy to get into (when you get in your own way), and not easy to stay in, but it's definitely worth striving for.
You may find that your peace of mind was in front of you this whole time.