Tend Your Mind Like a Garden: The 5-Step Framework for Growth That Lasts

I’m Brandon Wilson. I am constantly working toward improving my mind, body, and spirit using various ancient techniques and cutting-edge biohacking tools and devices. I want to be healthy, but not at the expense of being happy. This simple idea is what it means to be wellthy.

For the reasonable price of $6 per month/$60 per year, you will receive valuable content, including access to the entire archive of over 230 newsletters, members-only content, audio voiceovers (with extra content and always read by me), participation in the brain training raffle to win monthly biohacking gift bags, and access to the Be Wellthy Club private Facebook group.

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Since I visited Utah and Club Member Scott’s farm, I have been reflecting on the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to cultivate a garden. Until now, I have not had a green thumb unless you count the endless weeds in my backyard. While I’m not quite ready to start a garden, I was inspired to add some indoor plants, and Easyplant makes it simple. The company offers high-quality plants with a unique watering system where you only need to fill a water reservoir once a month. I started with a Money Tree in my biohacking corner and a snake plant in my bedroom for its many benefits.

Though native to Mexico and South America, the Money Tree rose to fame in East Asia, where it is cultivated as a symbol of prosperity.

The green snake plant (Sansevieria) is the most resilient of all houseplants.

Although many of us may not be cultivating gardens, all of us are cultivating our minds. This analogy helps us understand how our minds shape our reality.

“A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” —Mahatma Gandhi

The 5-Step Framework That Drives Our Outcomes

Have you ever wondered why sometimes, when you take action, you get the results you want, and other times, you don’t? It is critical to understand precisely what drives outcomes, and it is summarized with a 5-step framework.

All outcomes start with beliefs. What you believe determines what you think. What you think informs how you feel. How you feel drives your behavior, and your behavior and actions determine the results you do or do not produce. Finally, your results reinforce your beliefs.

From David Bayer’s book A Changed Mind

Let us consider this framework in the context of gardening.

🌱 Beliefs = The Seeds You Plant

Your beliefs are the starting point. They determine what kind of garden you will grow. You can’t plant cucumbers and expect a bed of roses. Are you planting the right seeds for your desired outcomes?

🧠 Thoughts = The Soil Conditions

Your thoughts are the mental environment in which those seeds grow. Do you nourish them with self-kindness and possibility or choke them with fear, negativity, and doubt?

💖 Feelings = Sunlight and Water

Emotions fuel growth. They either energize the process or dry it out. Consistent sunlight (hope, joy, confidence) and hydration (self-compassion, motivation) help your garden thrive.

💪 Actions = The Daily Gardening Work

These are the habits: pulling weeds, watering, and pruning. Isn’t it interesting how weeds pop up without any effort? The same happens with limiting beliefs and negative thoughts. We must be vigilant, pull the weeds before they grow, and take steps to ensure our garden is not attracting them. Whatever you do, please stop using Roundup (glyphosate). It’s terrible for you and the environment.

🌸 Results = The Harvest

What blooms is a reflection of everything that came before. A lush, vibrant garden results from intentional belief, nourishing thoughts, supportive feelings, and consistent action.

So much of what we experience in life isn’t random—it’s cultivated. Like a garden, your mind responds to what you plant, how you tend to it, and the conditions you create. Beliefs are the seeds. Thoughts are the soil. Feelings are the light and water. Actions are your daily care. The results are the harvest.

If something isn’t growing as you’d hoped, don’t blame the harvest—look gently, non-judgementally at what’s happening underground. The most beautiful gardens take time, patience, and intention. And so do we.

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The Daily Habit is where I share my habits related to the fundamentals: sleep, diet, physical activity, mindfulness, and stress management.

David Bayer teaches a journaling method called the Decision Matrix to audit your limiting beliefs. Consider adding this technique to your morning practice. On the journal page, draw lines to create three columns. In the first column, write down any negative thoughts. In the second column, write the opposite of the negative thought. For example, you might think that you won’t get everything you need to get done today. In the second column, write, “I’m going to get done all the important things today,” or “What I do not finish today, I will finish tomorrow.” In the third column, write down the evidence that the statement in the second column is true. Look for examples in your life that will empower you to change your beliefs. David provides a limiting beliefs checklist to download and print to help you get started.

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Last week’s answer

Be Wellthy Club entrants: Scott S., Scott L., Luke S., Ariel E., Renata B.

Raffle prizes are for Be Wellthy Club Members only. Club members can email bewellthy@substack.com with the correct answer to each week’s brain training and be entered into a monthly raffle to win one of two prize packages every month. I do respond to every email.

This week:

How many squares are there in this figure? Hint: There is an easy way and a hard way to count them, and the total is more than 40.

See the answer.

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It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the I Can Do It! conference in Phoenix. I summarized my takeaways in this newsletter last year. By the way, my next conference is the Health Optimization Summit on April 12-13 in Austin, Texas. Let me know if you’re going, and I’d love to meet up!

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