Thoughts
They can be our biggest advocate or worst enemy. These little reflections can dictate our behaviors without ever being seen by the naked eye. Thinking is continual within our stream of consciousness and until we realize the depth of our thoughts, we will never realize the power and control they have over us. Broken thinking creates negativity and fear. Until we consciously focus on our thoughts, we may have no idea where they are leading us.
Try this…sit quietly for a few moments. Do NOT focus on the number of minutes or set a timer. Refrain from anguishing about what else you should be doing. Just sit. What did you think about? Were you able to focus on one specific thought or did you jump from thought to picture, to list of things you need to do, to memories, to ideas? This exercise demonstrates how much power thoughts have each one of us. Consequently, when those thoughts are continually negative they impact our lives in destructive and deplorable ways.
What did you think about? Were you able to focus on one specific thought or did you jump from thought to picture, to list of things you need to do, to memories, to ideas? This exercise demonstrates how much power thoughts have each one of us. Consequently, when those thoughts are continually negative they impact our lives in destructive and deplorable ways.
How to Fix Broken Thinking
- Awareness. Become connected with your thoughts. How? Become aware of those dysfunctional “old tapes”. Many of us have a loop of old tapes playing continuously in our head. Become aware of those triggers, those words, those thoughts.
- Challenge them. When those old tapes appear, challenge them. Ask yourself if those thoughts are true. Are you really fat? Are you really not worthy of success? Remember, those tapes typically come from a negative influence in our lives, past or present. So, challenge those thoughts. Tell yourself, you are healthy and strong, you deserve this promotion, you will pass this test.
- Replace those negative thoughts with positive ones. Rather than tell yourself you will fail the test, tell yourself why you will pass. You have studied, you are prepared, you are quick to learn new concepts. This can also be done with affirmations. Find affirmations that connect deeply within your soul and print them out. Place them throughout your environment, so you always see them and be reminded of them.
- Gratitude. Practice a daily ritual of gratitude. Every evening before you go to sleep, write down ten things you are grateful for. While you may find this difficult at first, the longer you practice this, the more quickly you will think of things to write on this list. When you fill your mind and heart with gratitude, it is hard to be negative and you begin to take note of the blessing in your life.
- Remove the toxic people from your life. When you surround yourself with people who love you and lift you higher, it is easier to be more positive and you begin to see what they see in you. You will also increase notice energy as you will not be bogged down with the negativity and critical thinking of others.
You are Worthy
When you continually tell yourself that you are not good enough, not good looking enough, are fat, aren’t smart enough, you begin to behave as those thoughts dictate. How differently would your life look if you changed the direction of your thoughts, therefore changing your actions?
You are worthy of loving and being loved. Of growing and learning and being successful. Be patient with yourself, as changing your thinking takes time, after all, it probably took many years to develop those old tapes. Ultimately, the decision to change must come from within and on those occasions where you feel less than positive, fake it till you make it and keep moving forward.