Mind Gym: Achieve More by Thinking Differently – The International Bestseller and Essential Practical Guide to Mental Fitness

by Sebastian Bailey, Octavius Black

The international bestseller that will help you transform your personal and professional life by changing the way you think. Today, the pressure to achieve is intense. To be at our best, we need our minds working at peak potential. But unless you train it, your mind stays on autopilot, stuck in unhealthy thought patterns that lead to self-sabotaging habits and behaviors. As with your body, you have to exercise your mind to get the most out of it. Sebastian Bailey and Octavius Black, founders of Mind Gym, help you change your mental default settings through a series of “workouts” that have been tested and experienced by more than one million people from around the world and from companies such as Google, NBCUniversal, Shell, Pfizer, and PepsiCo. This hands-on guide presents a fitness program for the mind that tackles the most common challenges at work and Insightful, proven, and practical, Mind Gym is the essential mental workout that will wake up your mind and help you be your best in life.

Genres: Self Help, Psychology, Nonfiction, Business, Personal Development, Health, Productivity

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2007

About the author

Sebastian Bailey, Ph.D., is an international best-selling author and Co-founder and President of Mind Gym (www.themindgym.com), a corporate learning consultancy that works with over 50% of the S&P100 on their most challenging people performance issues.

Dr. Bailey has written four books, including Mind Gym: Wake Your Mind Up, an international bestseller that has been translated into 26 languages. He is a featured contributor to Forbes, Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management, Business Insider, Training Magazine, and HR Magazine.

He holds a PhD from the University of Bristol and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with Cognitive Science from the University College of London. He lives in the greater New York area with his family.

Reviews

[Nabeel Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very good book to improve your practice in anywhere, by reading this book and reviewing each section and apply it in your area you can feel the change in achieving more and more, all what you need is to apply it in your life.

[Amit · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is overall a practical self improvement book. The workouts are the best part, but it on par with getting things done and the now habit in terms of impact on life.
Been at cross roads of big decision, and returned or continued too easily, there is a chapter for that, there is a chapter.
Need a simple at to handle stress, there is a chapter on breathing and relaxing.
Want to find out if your are optimist or pessimist or their variation, there is a chapter for that. Just that chapter will make your an energizer of humans and is worth the cost of book.
It goes into fantastic items such as proactive behavior, repairing relations and having tough conversations.
Overall a wow book

[Denis Vasilev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Компиляция других, достаточно известных идей саморазвития

[Kimberly Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm all about self help books that focus on getting your mind right! And this is definitely one of those. Easy to read with common sense knowledge that anyone can use to help improve the way the way they think. You can read each chapter or just focus on the ones that speak directly to the area you want to "work out" the most. Need help being more creative, finding out why you procrastinate and how to get off your butt and get started, need tips on how to deal with stress and when it's actually good for you? Then this book has it. I've read a lot of books that speak to a majority of the topics discussed in this book but the different here is that the authors really try to help you narrow down why you do the things you do. For example, most books treat procrastination as one specific problem, however Octavia Black breaks down procrastination into 4 or 5 different types, has you take a quiz to find out which one you are, and then lets you focus on your particular area/reason of procrastination by giving specific tips to combat it.

If you enjoy reading self help books that work out your mental stability and strength, then this is one you should check out!

[Lisa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★½✩ Pretty good. Enjoyed the mental exercises more than I thought I would.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear actionable steps to get what you want and change the course of your life, or at least your outlook. I listened to the audiobook but to benefit I'd recommend the physical book and reread specific chapters as needed.

[Yvette Tuyisenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it and I love it .

[Wallis Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your run-of-the-mill self-help book. The analysis and techniques detailed in this book is highly relevant . The book tackles some of the most prevalent issues in our daily lives, i.e. procrastination, relationship building, etc. The techniques were very easy to implement but at the same time very effective. I highly recommend this book to anyone who continues to seek self improvement.

[Donna Sako · Rating 3 out of 5]

New take

I began reading this book to learn more about how I may improve. Sadly I found nothing new. This was less helpful.

[Brenda Corrado · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was unfortunately disappointed with this book.

[Zach Renwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs more depth.

[Kevin Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but nothing new here. Overpromises and underdelivers.

[Tinamarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I am not big on self-help books, however, this book put into perspective a lot of things I found myself dealing with daily. This book claims it will help you transform your personal and professional life all by changing the way you think. Mind Gym takes the approach that just as we exercise our bodies to build strength, we also need to exercise our minds to reverse the unhealthy patterns that lead us to self-sabotage.

As someone who is riddled with self-sabotage, I gave the book a chance. Mind Gym presents the reader with a fitness program for the mind and ways to tackle common, yet destructive challenges.

The book is broken up into main parts and within those parts are chapters focusing on various aspects of mind challenges. The challenges are How to adopt a positive mindset, how to repair broken relationships, how to resolve conflict successfully, how to influence others, how to minimize stress and gain energy and how to be more creative. Mind Gym is laid out with challenges at the end of every chapter for the beginner who is looking to make the shift and train the mind, along with advanced challenges for those who are working on further honing their mindset. It is meant to be interactive and read more than once. The way the book was also laid out allowed the reader to skip to the parts they believed they needed the most improvement on and to start there.
I found a lot of the topics relevant to my own experiences and appreciated the examples that were riddled throughout the lessons offered. It offered a better perspective as to what the authors were intending for the reader to work on and eventually accomplish.

Honestly, this isn’t the type of book you should read in one sitting, nor is it the type that you read once and forget about. It is meant to be interactive. It is meant to be slowly digested and really used to train your mind. When reading this one, you really have to be in the mindset that you’re in a place to work on these things and not easily distracted. I, while reading, was none of these things. I was unmotivated, just wanted to get through the book, and felt towards the end that it was more of a chore to read it. This was not because of the writing or the book but due to my own personal reasons. I will seek to re-read this book once I am in a better space and my mind is a bit clearer to focus on the tasks at hand.

I would recommend it for anyone who really wants to work their mind and shift they way they think but you do have to be open to the suggestions and work through the process so make sure you have the time, energy and where with all to fully devote to yourself and this book.

[Shannon Enloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turn auto pilot off. Switch back to manual.
Look for something new. Always. Stay present.
“Always” isn’t absolute.
Stay alert to other’s perspectives.
Remove critical noise.
Build reflection time into your routine.

We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.
Motivational styles vary from person to person.
Always try to make a good impression.
Persuasion is power.
People make decisions for their reasons. Not yours.

Look for the good. Consciously think of the good.
Be patient. 2 examples don’t make a pattern.
Lower your expectations. Consistently high standards could damage your relationships.
Forgive. Forgive quickly and easily. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting; it means allowing the relationship to continue.
Be prepared to encounter resistance when you better or change yourself. People are used to you one way so they may not be so welcoming of change. Remember to proceed with change for yourself.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, yet overly broad, view of retraining parts of your mind and consciousness. With sections ranging from enhancing creativity to handling conflict and everywhere in-between, it moves right along and doesn't get bogged down by going into overmuch detail on any particular topic. As a whole, it may help you understand yourself a bit better, and you'll probably find meaningful exercises here and there as something resonates, but you should expect this to be a starting place, not an end.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind Gym is an outstanding book that puts the mind to work. How to give great feedback, or Five Star Praise is very helpful. Telling the host of the dinner "great food" is not enough. "I particularly like the infusion of rosemary that seeped through the succulent lamb like the soft scent of early dusk in the savanna of my adolescence" is much better. A must read for anyone looking for mind tools to ease the day.

[Robin Sacks · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a performance coach, I am always adding tools and resources to my inventory that are worth sharing with clients who are looking to work towards their own personal optimization. Mind Gym, both the book and the website, are now on my resource list! A lot of great information and tools, as well as examples that put the ideas discussed into context - easy to understand makes things easier to apply. Change your thinking and you change your life.

[Maurice Rubino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind Gym, a Workout for the Mind

A physical workout strengthens the physical body but when he exercise stops you remember all the deadlines you must meet today and suddenly the exhilaration from the workout is replaced by the stress of the day ahead. Mind Gym provides the exercise tools to cope with the mental strain of the day.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! So many useful thoughts and ideas to help make you a better person. Find ways to help yourself and interact with people in a more productive way, etc. I highly recommend it. I have already made a note to read this again in six months.

I listened to the audio version of the book and it was well read!

[Mikhail Filatov · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a mix of useful (but overly simplified) psychological models (like Berne's games), pseudo-scientific advice about "visualization" and more or less common sense in a form of advice.
A couple of these models (like "bids" for relationship) were new for me, but otherwise it was very boring read.

[Zachary Wrightsman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is waaaay underrated. It has amazing brain teasers in here. This book helped me think out of the box in many different situations. It introduced me to a whole other way of thinking. A fun book I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Russell Yarnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to get a copy of this book and use it as a workbook of mental exercises.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas to practice. Worth re-reading to continue us to gain perspective.

[Allison]

Couldn't get through it. A little too pat, a little to prescriptive, and yet I couldn't find takeaways I could really apply.

[Hamid Khatibi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doesn't contain useful idea in my opinion.

[Nick Affolter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[vantablack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information on self-development and personal improvement. Practical guidance and encouraging.

[Gunel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been better in my opinion.
The book talks more about what is wrong with you rather than helping you fix those aspects of your life.
Stories of people with made up names reminded me of math textbooks from middle school. "Anna is very happy so she went outside and bought 100 watermelons"

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the content refreshed what I already understand about thought structuring. That being said: I appreciated the mini-assessments and explanations the book provided. Definitely feel the book is more suited for someone with little knowledge about psychology or someone in need of a self-help lesson with overcoming biased thought patterns.