Release the Power of Negative Thoughts with 3 Simple Steps
We spend most of our days living in our heads listening to a constant commentary of thoughts, beliefs and judgements that repeat day after day. Month after month. Year after year.
Most of us do not even stop to question the thought or belief as it arises. We never question where thoughts come from, where they live or who put them there. We just blindly believe them to be true. And often defend our right to have that thought or belief at the detriment of our own health and well-being and that of others.
If we truly want to free ourselves from the hold of negative thoughts, self-awareness is the key
If we do not even know the thought we are having that creates the uncomfortable feelings which in turn produces the predictable action, we do not have the possibility of change.
If you spend your whole life believing that learning is hard for you, because your teacher at school made you feel less than and you did not get taught in a way that made sense to you, chances are learning is hard for you.
You have repeated the thought so many times and you have gathered enough supporting evidence that it has just become part of who you are. But it does not have to be that way. You can change this story no matter how late on in life you are. You just have to have the desire and the courage to make a different choice.
So awareness is the first step, what’s next?
Step 2 is to start questioning the truth of your thoughts/beliefs and to open up the the possibility that they are not truth of who you are and they might not even be personal... what I hear you say! They are in my head and are the result of what I have experienced in my life, how can they not be personal? Which yes, is true to some extent, but what if the mind was Universal? Meaning that every body experiences the same mind and the similar thoughts and beliefs but they are just filtered through every body’s unique perspective?
If you 100% knew that your thoughts were not personal, would you be able to take them a little less seriously?
Would there be a little bit more breathing space before a reaction occurred? Would you feel a little more relaxed about life if you knew that your thoughts and beliefs are not personal and that you can change them to what serves you best in any given moment? I think so.
The first time I grasped this idea a huge sigh of relief rippled through my body. It felt I had put down a 10 ton brick I had been holding unknowingly for years. You see it’s energetically draining to keep repeating and believing the same disempowering thoughts year after year.
When you are conscious enough to be able to observe your thoughts as the witness and realize that you have the choice whether to believe the thought and the choice if you would like to start believing a different thought, the sense of freedom you feel is incredible. It’s like you have been given your life back!
And finally, step 3. After questioning the truth of what you have been believing you get to turn that thought around. What if you believed the opposite? What if you believed you were awesome at learning? How does his new thought make you feel? What would you do differently? Really ‘try on’ the new thought. It’s fun to look at things from a different angle and shift perspective.
So here are the 3 steps to releasing the power of negative thoughts which can be a catalyst for massive transformation in your life!
Self-awareness
~ What thought am I believing to be true?
~ How does this thought/belief make me feel and where do I feel it in my body?
~ What actions or non-actions do I take when I believe this thought to be true?
2. What if this thought/belief is not personal? In fact, what if it is not true at all?
~ How would I feel?
~ How would I act or respond differently to life?
3. What if I turn that thought/belief around to the positive?
~ How would I feel if i believed the positive version of this thought/belief
~ Who would I be and how would I act differently?
With all of this new found awareness, you then get to CHOOSE!
You are no longer a victim to your mind and your thinking. You are an empowered creator who get’s to choose how they would like to think and feel.
Does it take time to make these shifts?
Yes and no.
It takes practice and a certain amount of vigilance to stay aware of your thoughts, but with time it get’s easier and easier and thinking new thoughts becomes quicker as you bushwhack new neural pathways. And no, it takes no time at all, because you can simply decide to be ‘an awesome learner now’ and cultivate that feeling inside of you. Pretty soon you’ll start to act like you are an awesome learner, you’ll do things differently and gather a whole bunch of evidence that proves what an amazing learner you are!
With this empowered knowledge and awareness you can quite literally take away power from any thought or belief that has been ruling your life!
Pick one thought today and go through the steps. Let me know what you discover and if you have any questions.
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