How to tame your demons
And become the master of your thoughts
Rustam Ksenofontov

© Rustam Ksenofontov, 2021

ISBN 978-5-4493-7490-5

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my mentors who taught me a lot, especially Mr. Bodo Schaefer, Mr. Brian Tracy and Mr. Anthony Robbins. Their books and books written by other amazing writers helped me to choose my life journey.

Thanks to my students – I have learned from them a lot while working as karate trainer for 20 years. Thanks to my friends – you supported me, when i was writing this book, and that gave me strength to continue.

Also I`d like to say thank you to all the people who helped me with the creation of this book. And I express my respect to all the readers, especially to those, for whom this book becomes useful.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

My congratulations and excitement, dear reader!

You`re reading this book and that means you have decided to find the way to fulfil your dream. Probably, you have already understood, that this way is not easy; but only by overcoming challenges you can achieve the best results.

This book is dedicated to the heroes looking for their place in the world. Its goal is to teach the reader to control their inner attention and shift it as necessary: e.g. from the negative focus to the positive one or from the slackness to efficiency. By controlling attention one can learn to shift their thoughts from the category of kings to the category of loyal servants and then (only then!) one will be able to act according their true desires without reference to their fears and quirks.

The characters of the book are fictional, but techniques and tips are very real. The book is done as an exciting story, what helps to process information easily (I will go so far as to say effortlessly). The special book size allows to make important notes right there, what makes it convenient for self-study.

As long as positive habits will not become ingrained in everyday live, the book will be a loyal helper and trustworthy friend.

I am happy that I have the opportunity to share experience and knowledge that will help to realize your natural potential. Enjoy your reading and successful learning of all useful skills, that mentioned here. They help you to tame your demons (fears, bad habits limiting your beliefs) and make them into your allies on the way towards dream.

Sincerely, the author.

ACQUAINTANCE AND THE FIRST TASK

A hard beat on the cheek

No sooner have I understand what is happening, unusually strong hands grabbed me by the collar and leveled me up without effort, as if my weight was less than 80 kilograms. I tried to discern the holder of this unlimited power, but when I saw him, I was so shocked that even lost the desire to resist and make sense out of it completely.

I didn’t see the familiar look in those eyes – there was endless, deep Universe full of countless stars. The scale of what I saw was limited only by my mind. I couldn’t look up from those eyes and say even a word – at that moment I became feeble-minded and helpless. Not giving me a chance to regain consciousness this creature said with a cosmic voice:

– Stardust, today is the day! Decide: to die disgraceful or resurrect as a king!

After that the creature threw me off from itself at whim and I felt as if thousands of horse pulled me away and dragged at incredible speed.

At this moment the dream stopped short…

Suddenly Farooq woke up, but still was startled for some time. After that, he looked around, sat on the bed, came around a little and said out loud:

– What a strange dream…

Staring straight before himself, the man started to recollect some details of the dream. At that time the beautiful spring sun was already brightening the town called Mirad, going up higher on the small sand-colored houses and narrow streets. Our character lived in this town. His name was Farooq and not so long ago he had turned 35 years old.

He could sleep a little bit longer, but after such awakening he didn’t want to, that’s why he was wrapped up in understanding of the dream. He kept thinking about the creature’s words.

– “Only few words were said – but how much it meant!”, – was thinking Farooq while sitting on the bed.

Suddenly, out of the blue he understood. He realized the meaning of the strange dream and shouted:

– “It’s time to change my life, otherwise I will get through life disgraceful!”

At the same time, he thought about the spent time, when he hadn’t done anything meaningful, hadn’t excelled in anything. Life is so short!…

Of course, before that, Farooq also had thought about it, as much as about changes and death. But he had preferred to believe that when his time came, the doctors would find universal remedy, which he would use and become almost immortal.

But this morning the youthful thoughts changed, the veil, where the death anxiety had been hiding for all this time, was opened. The terror came with the understanding: life would flee sadly, without dreams and great goals.

Farooq felt that he was short of breath. Panicking, he jumped off the bed, washed himself and drank some water. And then came out in the yard and said watching in the sky and not getting the reason of his sufferings:

– What have I done to deserve this? In my dreams I’m a great speaker, spreading good words to million people, giving them opportunities. But in reality I’m just a mason, whose words are not heard by himself sometimes.

Emotions invaded him, tears rained down his cheeks – tears of sadness because of emptiness of past years, careless attitude towards life and thoughts about the great gift he got – ability to tread the ground, breathe in the amazing air – but didn’t appreciate, grieving for nothing and throwing in the towel without any reason.

That is not how he had imagined his life.

Calmed down a little, Farooq pulled himself together and felt unusual peace like an angel touched him with the wing. It was an incredible feeling – he felt neither fear nor regret, only great sense of peace, spreading through his body. After sitting for some time calmly Farooq wiped tears, stood up and said in a loud hard voice:

– From now on my path will lead me to greatness, my voice will be heard by millions, and each of my word I will fill with knowledge so that their weight will be thousand times more than the weight of any star in the Universe.

After colossal shocks in the morning Farooq made nice coffee, drank it, changed the clothes and went for a walk. He was so passionate about his thoughts that didn’t notice the wonderful spring weather, singing birds or even people passing by.

An hour gone by and suddenly Farooq’s attention was caught by a man, walking towards him. It was a middle-aged man in a great shape, but our character somehow felt that this man bore his age well. The man’s face seemed familiar, and gazing into his face, Farooq recognized him. He knew that man for a long time, a little bit later he remembered that the man is his father’s friend.

– Iwas, it’s you! – shouted Farooq to see if he was right. And heard the answer immediately:

– Yes, who’s asking? Do we know each other? – the man looked at Farooq’s face but didn’t recognize him.

– It’s me, Farooq, Lear’s son.

– No way! Lear’s son? – cried Iwas and gave a hug to Farooq. – My best friend’s son! Oh, what a lucky meeting!

Farooq smiled silently, seeing the old friend’s unaffected joy.

– How are you, my friend? Very happy to meet you! Much time has passed since last time I saw your dad, 15 years or even more! – said Iwas. – Are you busy now, my friend?

– Today I’m totally free, – answered Farooq. – I decided to go for a walk through the town during my day-off.

– Then, please, spend this day with me, of course, if you don’t mind. For this meeting I will put off all my business, just need to deliver a message to the servants.

Pulled the servants aside, Iwas started to assign tasks. At that moment Farooq noticed that although he was a man with good income by standards of his town, even the servants of his father’s friend were dressed better than our character, much less Iwas himself.

Having ended with the orders, Iwas came to Farooq and took his arm:

– So, my friend, let’s go somewhere private, where we well be able to drink tea and have a talk in relaxed manner.

Farooq smiled friendly and said that he knew such place nearby.

They came to the tea house, where they could have rest and talk to each other. At the entrance they were welcomed by the friendly host, who, seeing their desire to come in, opened his tent.

– Dear host! – called him Iwas. – Give us the best place where we can have a relaxed talk and treat ourselves with your tasty fruit tea.

– With pleasure, – answered the host and walked them inside the tent.

The tent, located in the town center, was designed for thirty guests and divided into rooms for 3—4 men each. Inside it was covered with magnificent carpets, each room had black-out curtains. Even when the weather was pretty hot, there was pleasantly cool because of the well-arranged ventilation and thick carpets, fixed on the braced and rigid frame and served a purpose of walls. Also the location of the tent helped to preserve coolness – it was in the shade of four mighty trees, hiding it from the glaring May sun. It was a fabulous place, where people came to take rest, drink delicious tea with different desserts and have sincere talks. Because of carpets, absorbing sounds, comfort and privacy were kept even in the tent full of guests. That’s why this place was the favorite tea house of the relaxed talks fans.

No sooner did guests sit, the servant came into the room with a teapot of the famous flavorful tea, the smell of which fill the air in the room, and a bowl of delicious desserts.

– Hmm… What an amazing smell, – said Iwas, settling on soft pillows, lying to the right from the small table.

The servant served tea cups and went out. Iwas, taking a sip, tried to enjoy the taste and relax. Looking at him, Farooq also started to calm down unintentionally and enjoy the smell and taste of the tea.

– Sometimes people can affect each other a lot, – said Farooq after noticing his unconscious imitation of Iwas.

– You are absolutely right, my friend, and this is one of the rules of success, – smiled Iwas. – If you are surrounded by successful people, you and you’ll become more successful; if by active ones, you’ll become more active. And vice versa: If there is people around you, who always complain about the life, very soon you’ll start to notice injustice of life too.

There is a nice expression about that: “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail”. Same here, when you are with positive people, you start to think in a good way and vice versa.

– Interesting expression, – said Farooq out loud and became lost in thoughts.

They took one more sip of the nice tea and after a pause, Iwas asked his companion:

– How are you, my friend? What do you do for living? Tell me what happened during those years I haven’t seen you and your father. 15 years intervened, you were a just a boy back then.

– Yes, I was only 20, – said Farooq thoughtfully. – I have been building houses, since I started to help my father to the present day. At that time father designed projects and build foundations and I built walls. Now I do everything on my own, sometimes hire assistants for major projects. Everything goes kind of perfect, and I have a lot of assignments in advance, but I don’t want to be a mason, it’s more my parents’ wish than mine.

Iwas gave a knowing toss of the head. Farooq continued:

– At first it seemed interesting, but then it turned into a daily routine and just habit. Even great assignments with high salary don’t bring me joy anymore… And so I have lived till today without any joy and projects of life. It seemed, that I would live the rest of my life in such a manner… But something has happened today.

Having told about the strange dream, Farooq continued:

– This dream made to t a wonder a new angle on my life. I even took a day-off to go for a walk and think everything through. And, what a wonder, I met you straight away!

The father’s friend laughed gently and asked Farooq with a gesture to continue. The character, encouraged, spoke again.

– But I still don’t know what to do and where to start: I have a dream, but don’t have powers to fulfill it. Usually I come home late. Rest, sometimes meet friends, and so day by day, year by year. And you’re saying that you are happy at your respectable age, full of energy, bear your age very well, and moreover you’re rich. On top of all, you travel a lot and learn different languages! I would like to learn that.

– Yes, at my 70 I’m so pleased with my life, knowledge and wisdom, so full of energy that I would not have traded it in for youth. I heard that your parents died…

Sad pause hung in the air for some time.

– But this is life, – continued Iwas. – And you can’t escape from it. I take a philosophical approach to it, I believe that life doesn’t end up in this world, our souls will be carried to another reality – and these thoughts help me to be curious about death!

– What an interesting philosophy, – said Farooq thoughtfully.

DAY EVALUATION

Having thought a little during the pause, the father’s friend said:

– I believe that all events are connected and not accidental. “When the student is ready, the mentor will appear soon”. I agree to try my hand at teaching you: it will be unusual, but, I’m sure, invaluable experience.

Turning to the companion and looking into his eyes with determination, Iwas said:

– Farooq, I’m ready to become your mentor. But on conditions that you will devote your time to our learning, because we don’t have much time, but, on the contrary, there is a lot of information, you need to learn.

Not waiting for the end of his companion’s speech, Farooq, being not able to keep his temper in check, said loud and clear:

– I agree.

– Okay, but it’s enough for today, my dear friend. I need a couple of days to settle some issues and one day to prepare for our study. Thus, we will meet at the same place at the same time in 3 days. And here is your first task: every evening do an exercise called “Day evaluation”.

The goal of this exercise is to put your day and your emotions, both positive and negative, into perspective. And not only to put into perspective, but to understand, what has caused them.

Now make an evaluation of this day with 2 questions: what did you like from today and what did not. Write down the answers.

The first question helps to focus on the positive aspects of the day and to find out what brings you joy and inspiration. The second one is dedicated to your weaknesses, that you need to improve.

At the beginning you can write down only one thing for each question. The secret of healthy habits training is to make them simple: as a result, one gets an impression that developing them is much easier than wrestling with your conscience. It is a good strategy for getting into any new habit. With the growth and learning strategy the amount of things will be increasing, but the time, spent on the exercise, will de decreasing. So, are you ready?

– Yes, I want to make evaluation of this amazing day as soon as I can! – said Farooq.

– Well, then I’m going to say you goodbye. I still have some business for today, and you start your exercise. See you in 3 days at the same time!

Having said goodbye, Farooq started the exercise.

So, what did I like from this day?

– The decision to change his life.

– The meeting with Iwas, who has become his mentor.

– The first task, with which he copes easily and with pleasure.

What did not?

– Almost rejected the Iwas’s offer to study because of the fear of doing poor job.

Act, in spite of fear. As the saying goes, the best antidote fear is an action.

– Tried to put the task off and do it in more reasonable conditions, that is after sleeping, relaxing, having a bite and setting my mind on doing it.

It’s an excuse. With such an attitude I will never do this task or the conditions, in which I will do it, will be the same or worse.

Start doing the exercise as soon as possible, not paying attention to any unconstructive doubts. Where inconvenient to do the whole exercise, I need to do a part of it, so I won’t put it into cold storage.

– My doubts: “Is it right to start this training?”

“Should I spend my time on it?” Because if we start our training, I’ll need to do different tasks in the evenings, but sometimes I just want to rest and do nothing.

Change the mood on “the proof of the pudding is in the eating. if it doesn’t help, I still will be the winner, because I’ll get invaluable experience.

What should be done to improve this situation?

What should be done to improve this situation?

What should be done to improve this situation?

THE SECOND MEETING. MENTOR AND STUDENT

After the first meeting Farooq liked the first task, effectively helping to clear mind from doubts and fears, so, that he looked forward to the new one. At that moment our character understood, that conscious education differs a lot from the compulsory, formal one. Now he thirsted for new knowledge and applied them practically; in school he had got new knowledge, but he could use it only in many years, at the best case, but at the worst – simply forget them.

This evening Farooq came a little bit earlier than his mentor, ordered the fruit tea, went to the same room and asked the host, welcoming guests, to conduct his mentor to the room. The host remembered them after the first meeting well and nodded in approval for his request.

Iwas came a little bit later, but also earlier than at a pre-scheduled time. The mentor was pleasantly surprised, seeing that his student is already waiting for him.

– How are you, Farooq? – started the mentor after the greetings.

– Fine, – answered Farooq, took a sip of the tea and continued, – In fact. I was looking forward to our next meeting to begin the next task and tell you about the exercise “Day evaluation”. Every evening I made the evaluation: it turned out to be a great task, which helped me to look at me day from the outside and find out my habits – the strong one and those, that need to be improved.

– That’s great! – said Iwas, – this is one of the goals of the first exercise.

Taking a sip of the delicious fruit tea, mentor continued:

– Dear friend, with your permission I’d like to call you “student” during our training, it will allow me to be responsible while teaching you.