Link for this Post: Improve self confidence and Learn to Relax With unique clinically proven games by MindHabits
In a recent post, I gave a brief history of self-development software. Now I want to spotlight the world's first life training software ready for prime time!
Are you stressed out or in a blue mood? Your usual response might to find and read the current trendy self-help book everyone is talking about. But now there is something better and more effective you can do.
Get MindHabits, self help software that will provide relief as easy as clicking a mouse.
Now here is finally a video game that is actually good for you. Get a brighter mood in just a few minutes with MindHabits.
Based on social intelligence research conducted at the prestigious McGill University, these stress-busting, confidence-boosting games provide a series of simple-to-use, fun-to-play exercises that players develop and maintain a more positive frame of mind.
On the MindHabits website, you can read many articles about the new program including articles in the Wall Street Journal and the New Scientist as well as coverage by ABC news.
An in depth explanation of the development of MindHabits is provided as well as extensive information on the science behind the software.
There are tips for playing the game available. You can even download free software that allow you to add faces of you and people in your life to MindHabits.
Here are some of the principles and features found in MindHabits:
Software Configurations: Either download the Windows software version and use it like a video game (example of a typical screen in Windows)
or play it in any web browser capable of running Flash. Here is a typical screen in a browser:
The Games: There are four games with 100+ levels of play. The games are:
- Matrix
- Words
- Who Are You
- Grow Your Chi
Scientific Principles Behind the Games: Based on the principles of social intelligence. A key concept is the idea of MindHabits, of which there are four types including
Outlook: Scientific psychology has shown that our minds continuously filter our
experiences, including our view of ourselves and our interactions with
others. This filter determines how we feel about and react to the
world. In MindHabits, this is called your Outlook. "Outlook" on a
daily basis using a series of automatic tests and self-report
questions, which are explained in more detail later in this document
and in the Science Lab of the MindHabits game.
If your Outlook is relatively more positive on a given day, you will
pay attention to warm, supportive feedback from other people, you will
interpret unclear interactions in a positive way, you will focus on
your strengths rather than your weaknesses -- in general you will find
the warmth and kindness in your relations with other people.
If your Outlook is not as positive, you may tend to be on the lookout for social threats like criticisms and rejections, and you may worry more about any flaws of your own that might provoke those kinds of negative reactions.
Inhibition - Inhibition plays a key role in the way we make sense of the
complexities of social life. Inhibition is not meant to describe a
negative frame of reference, rather it is used to describe a process
whereby you may stop paying attention to the potential negative cues in
your environment, and begin to pay attention, instead, to the more
positive cues.
If you focus on and dwell on threatening information, this can increase
your feelings of stress. Sometimes it is helpful to be able to
"inhibit" or disengage from threat - or in other words, to just "let it
go".
Association: Reactions to situations are often shaped by links, or "associations"
between one idea and another. If thinking about yourself, for example,
triggers thoughts about criticisms and rejections, this may act to
undermine your self-confidence.
If, on the other hand, thinking about yourself can become associated
with thoughts of support and acceptance from others, as well as the
positive emotions that come along with that, then this may help you
feel more self-confident and better able to deal with stress.
Activation - Research has shown that it is possible to bring to mind, or "activate" one frame of mind or another. So, if we bring to mind thoughts of warmth and support, this shapes our Outlook to be more attentive to whatever warmth and support is available in our interactions with others. Research has shown that activating a secure frame of mind in this way can often help people feel more self-confident, more creative, more tolerant of uncertainty, and less self-critical.
The "Words" Trainer game works on this principle by getting players to think about a certain list of "activation" words over and over again. By placing words such as "loved" and "caring" into our mind, these games can help us develop a more positive state of mind automatically.
I could continue to tell you more about MindHabits but the only way to understand the "play" of the game is to do it. Please visit MindHabits at their official website to try these new self-help and personal development games.
