The Mind Gym: Wake Your Mind Up

by Octavius Black

In much of our lives, our mind operates on autopilot. Rather like the tourist who repeats the same words louder each time the local doesn't understand, we often tend to think and behave in set ways, even if it doesn't get us what we want. However, once we can spot our mental habits, we can change them. And, as result, we are more likely make the right things happen; come up with original ideas; achieve more in less time; gain energy and have less negative stress; win people round to our point of view. Over 100,000 people have taken part in and recommended The Mind Gym's workouts. Now, for the first time, hundreds of these practical tips and techniques based on applied psychology are packed into this book and, with your free personal membership number, at The Mind Gym Online. It's not too late to change your mind ...

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

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Octavius Black is the CEO of Mind Gym (www.themindgym.com), which he co-founded in 2001.

Mind Gym has helped 53% of S&P100, from Microsoft to MetLife, and 61% of FTSE 100, from Unilever to GSK, transform performance by changing the way employees think. In 2014, over 250,000 managers in over 40 countries will take part in a Mind Gym 'workout' or other live experience. Mind Gym has won numerous awards including for the turnaround of customer service at Santander and employee engagement at British Gas, as well as Learning Company of the year 2013, 2014.

Octavius is regarded as a business authority and has edited Mind Gym research papers on a wide range of topics including: how to upgrade when you downsize; and how to increase performance without spending a penny. He has written numerous articles for broadsheet newspapers, including the Financial Times, The Times, and writes a monthly column in the business section of The Sunday Telegraph. He has also made several appearances on the BBC. See a full summary of press coverage on our website (www.themindgym.com/category/press/).

Octavius leads Mind Gym's CSR programme, 'Parent Gym' (www.parentgym.com), which provides free parenting courses to parents and children in deprived parts of UK and won a highly coveted 'tick' from Business in the Community. Mayor of London, Boris Johnson visited the launch of Parent Gym and commented in his column in The Telegraph that it was 'just about the most hopeful thing [he has] seen in the past few months'.

Previously, Octavius led the sales & marketing side of employee communication consultancy Smythe Dorward Lambert as it grew from 9 to 100 people, before the consultancy was sold to Omnicom in 1996. He worked as a business analyst at Booz Allen and Hamilton and was a journalist on both sides of the Atlantic.

Octavius was educated at Eton and has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[AJ Tackett · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read if your a coach or competitive athlete. It didn't blow my mind or tell me anything that changed the way I look at things. It helped me remember the power of the mental side of performance. Good read.

[Grenville Shurmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this is your first read of a self help book then you will benefit from it .
Much of the content is already out there in other titles ..Same old same old .

[Jason Savin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sort of book that you can look through, to find any parts of your personality that you feel needs strengthening. And it gives you exercises and advice to help you overcome whatever you feel are your problems. I heartily recommend this book.

[John Doe · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Гимнастика ума", старая книжка, года 2007 по-моему. Типичная self-help психология, с неприменимыми для обычного среднего человека примерами. Книга забита тестами, что уже многое о ней говорит, и ну совсем уж кринжовыми пафосными сносками с детсадовской моралью.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book, some helpful exercises in there for re-programming your way of thinking and interacting

[Laura K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful, especially the activities to help gain creativity in business situations.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I read this :) Great!

[Konrad Plechowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 even. Concepts mostly known from other sources, but very neatly put together!

[Tony Almeida · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como já tive oportunidade de comentar, este livro não era exactamente aquilo que eu estava à espera. O título "Mind Gym" sugeriu-me que se tratava de um livro para "exercício da mente", ou seja um livro de problemas, charadas e pensamento lateral. Fiquei um pouco decepcionado quando verifiquei que se tratava de um livro de "apoio pessoal" (penso que o termo "auto-ajuda" é muito limitado e mesmo pejorativo para este livro) e que não é mais do que a passagem para o papel do conceito de um workshop com o mesmo nome, onde os participantes são confrontados com um conjunto de exercícios para o desenvolvimento de capacidades de trabalho e liderança, ao mesmo tempo que aprendem a enfrentar o stress e as dificuldades. O workshop pode até ser bastante interessante, mas no papel ficou muito, muito limitado.

Este livro acabou por valer mais ou menos a pena por causa da última parte, esta dedicada ao pensamento criativo, e mesmo assim com algumas reticências.

Pode até ser um livro bastante útil, mas, para mim, grande parte do conteúdo não me diz nada, facto que se reflectiu no tempo que demorei a terminar este livro.

[Wouter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mind Gym contains a few "golden rules" which you can find in every other productivity/self improvement book, along with some practical tips on how to influence others and how they behave. For me personally, after reading a lot of these books, I was hoping to find more. I did not.

The "existential cycle" paradigm explained here is another way of saying people need to break their habits and expand their horizons. The examples given are clear and there are exercises present after each section, but I didn't find them very intresting.

I'd recommend other books instead but it was OK.

[Niels Lodewijk]

Stole this description that covers what I think of it as well. I quit a bit over half of it. It has short chapters covering different topics.

"Just another self-help book among hundreds, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose if you had the self-discipline to stick at the proposed techniques awhile, it may yield some benefits, but it ultimately offers very little knowledge that you either didn't already know or couldn't work out for yourself. Would not recommend."

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short funny exercises to reprogram your thinking. Part of a series of books from Britain.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a decent and didactic sports book to help with performance anxiety, this is a good book.

[Misha · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring