I’m sure that’s a question we’ve all been asked!It really is one we need to ask ourselves more often, because if we were to liken our mind to a movie screen, we would see an estimated 30,000 thoughts flashing across the screen of our mind each day. Some may be positive and affirming, some negative and driven by hurt or bitterness, and some just plain destructive and irrational.
The challenge is, that we have become accustomed to believe that every thought that pops into our mind is true. Yet many are based on how we’re feeling, or perhaps even that inner self-talk that has gotten out of hand.
Carolyn Leaf, who is a renown neuroscientist with cutting-edge information on the brain states: “75 to 98% of all current mental, physical and behavioural illnesses come from our thought life”.
With those kinds of statistics, what we think about just got a whole lot more significant! We really do need to ‘think a whole lot more about what we’re thinking about.
Our thoughts have so much power that (if gone unchecked) have the capacity to impact the way we behave each and every day because your THOUGHTS affect your FEELINGS which affect your BEHAVIOUR.
So, when we allow negative thoughts like – I’m useless; Nobody likes me; I don’t deserve this; I’m too fat…skinny…tall…short – this kind of thinking will have a huge impact on how we feel. Your feelings will then impact your ability to behave positively, leaving us unhappy, unengaged and struggling to reach our potential.We need to know that stopping this process begins right back when that thought pops into your head.
The choice is yours and the power rests with you as to what you allow to habitat your mind.
For those that have believed negatively about themselves for a long time, the process of re-establishing healthier thought patterns will take discipline and time. This is because from about 25 yo we develop set pathways in our brain that become like those deep ruts that we see in the roads when we’re driving through a forest.Yet latest research shows that we literally can change our brains through managing our thoughts and choices. When we do this, it creates new neural pathways and destroys old ones, giving us the ability to change how we think.
Running a thought journal for a week is a great way to build awareness around the negative thoughts that you have allowed to dominate your mind and emotions. You will probably be surprised!
As you notice negative thought patterns, challenge them, and choose positive affirmations to replace the lies. This builds healthier pathways to a happier you. After all, the more you think, or meditate on something, the more those pathways grow (good or bad).
My challenge to you this week is – to ‘think about what you’re thinking about’.Remember: You are the gatekeeper of your mind! Change your thoughts, change your world!
