How to Beat the Monsters Living Inside Your Head

How well are you dealing with the monsters living in your head?
 

Who has the power? Who’s winning?
 

Chances are, you’re losing the battle.

 

How do you know?
 

By evaluating how often, on average, you find yourself in the state left behind by the monster when it wins: paranoia.

 

And how do you know if you’re living in a state of paranoia?

By evaluating how often, on average, you’re living in the states that cause paranoia: fear, stress, anxiety, worry, and doubt.

 

That’s what a monster is: Any catastrophic future scenario that causes you fear, stress, anxiety, worry, and doubt.

 

In other words, any catastrophic future scenario that puts you in a state of paranoia.

And every time you enter that state, the monster wins.

Because if you fed the state, you fed the monster.

Because you chose to believe its story.

Because you let its narrative take over.

Because you kept dancing to its rhythm.

 

That’s why, unfortunately, it’s normal to be losing the battle.

Because you constantly enter the state, and with every victory, the monster grows stronger.

 

That’s your mind — a formidable enemy.

And what makes your mind so difficult to defeat is this: Your mind is unconsciously trained by you to defeat you.

 

Damn.

Without meaning to, you’ve spent your entire life training your mind to let the monsters win.
 

Or perhaps your mind has spent your entire life training you.

(We’ll save that for another day.)

 

What matters is understanding how you’ve pre-designed yourself to lose the battle before it even starts.

And why?

Because while a world without monsters doesn’t exist…

… A world where you win does.

 

If you want to learn how to beat them, you first have to understand why you’ve trained yourself to lose.

And why it benefits you.

Why You Let the Monsters Win

 

Before we start, remember one thing: Your mind is pre-designed to ensure your survival.

Nothing matters more to it.

 

Now, while its intentions are noble, its methods aren’t always so.

In fact, your mind is ruthless in its pursuit of survival, operating like a war general trying to eliminate an enemy: It drops the bomb without regard for collateral damage.

It doesn’t matter if innocents are killed or the ecosystem is destroyed.

As long as it’s convinced it’s protecting you, it pulls the trigger.

 

And guess what?

It always convinces itself.

 

Damn. 

 

Relax. 

 

Don’t slip into paranoia. 

Don’t feed the monster.

There is a way out.

 

To turn things around, you need to understand who is the real enemy your mind is trying to defeat. 

You think your mind’s enemy is the monster.

But it’s not.

 

That’s your enemy.

Which is why you struggle so much to defeat it.

Because the monster isn’t your mind’s enemy — it’s its ally.

One it conveniently uses to defeat its real enemy:

 

Reality.

 

What?

 

I know — it’s a bombshell.

So I’ll guide you step by step…

 

Your mind hates reality because, in reality, you control very little.

And the lack of control is something your mind absolutely detests.

Because it’s convinced that lack of control threatens your survival.

 

And it’s right ... to a degree.

If you can’t control how, when, or where a lion comes to eat you, you die.

 

So what does your mind do to protect you?

It pulls you out of reality.

 

That’s why you struggle so much to accept your reality.

And live in the present.

And be mindful.

 

Because your reality reminds you that you’re not in control.

And that’s the reality of your reality that your mind doesn’t like to accept.

 

So where does it send you?

To the world of fantasy.

 

A world that, conveniently, only exists in your mind.

Because since it only exists in your mind, your mind gets to set the rules.

And the only rule that matters to it is making you believe you’re in control.

 

Now, the problem is it doesn’t send you to a paradise of fantasies.

On the contrary.

 

It sends you to a world of apocalyptic fantasies.

To the world of monsters.

To the world of its best ally.

 

Your mind puts you to fight against possible catastrophic future scenarios to distract you.

And keep you there.

 

Monsters that, for the most part, are invented, borrowed, or inherited.

That is, monsters that, for the most part, aren’t real.

Monsters that don’t exist in your reality — only in your mind.

 

And there you stay, going in circles endlessly…

 

Imagining what you’d do in this situation, how you’d respond if that happened, what you’d say when you see her...
 

You start thinking about what you’ll do when your company fails, when your spouse leaves you, when your money runs out, when they tell you you have cancer, when your mom dies, when your partner resigns, when the investor says no…

 

And meanwhile…

Your company remains profitable, your spouse is by your side, your money is in the bank, your health intact, your mom at home, your partner in front of you, and your investor on vacation.

 

And meanwhile…

You’re still spinning endlessly, trapped in a whirlwind of paranoia, injecting yourself with another dose of fear, worry, doubt, anxiety, and stress with every thought.

 

But you stay there, happily paying the price.

Because even though it hurts and robs you of well-being, it gives you the illusion of control.

Because analyzing scenarios, evaluating pros and cons, planning strategies, and preparing responses makes you feel like you’re controlling the situation.

When in reality, chances are you’ll never live that situation.

 

That’s why you let the monsters win.

Because you’d rather entertain fantasies than solve realities.

Because in the fantasy, you’re in control. 

And in your reality, you’re not.

 

How to Beat the Monsters in Your Head

 

You’ll laugh at how simple it is.

 

But here, I invoke the beautiful Rumi once more: “The antidote is in the venom.”

 

If the venom is escaping reality, the antidote is planting yourself in it.

 

The only thing you need to do is to:

• Not escape into the fantasy world conveniently created by your mind...

• Not fight imaginary monsters...

• Not infest your life with paranoia...

• Not poison yourself with stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and doubt...

All you have to do is this: Ask yourself “Is this real?”

 

If you put your monsters through the acid test of reality, they automatically cease to exist.

And you free yourself from their grasp.

And you win.

 

The next time you catch yourself dancing with a monster, ask yourself: “Does this monster exist?”

The next time you catch yourself entertaining some catastrophic future scenario, ask yourself: “Is this already my reality?”

 

Planting yourself in your reality is the best cure for stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and doubt.

Because reality doesn’t hurt or weigh you down.

Reality simply is.

 

Everything else is just a fantastical and apocalyptic interpretation fabricated by a monster perfectly trained by your mind.

 

Don’t let yourself be deceived anymore.

Don’t venture into the territory of monsters, no matter how much your mind insists.

 

Because after today, you can no longer pretend you don’t know…

 

And here’s what you now know: The best ally for your well-being is your reality.

 

You decide.