It’s just a thought in your head; It’s not fact
Starting is without a doubt the hardest part. We may be full of ideas and inspiration, but turning them into action is so hard. You are on the cusp of finally stepping forward. Making that change, but something stops you.
What is it that stops you? A very interesting topic I’ll cover in another post.
The Cycle
And then you enter the cycle. You start reprimanding yourself because ‘Once again you didn’t act’. You feel guilty, you feel ashamed, you feel embarrassed that you ever even thought that you could achieve something different. How silly of you to think so much of yourself. And then a few weeks later you get inspired again, you tell yourself; No! I won’t take this, I will act this time. But again, something stops you, and so the cycle continues.
And everytime you don’t act and you reprimand yourself for this, you make the belief bigger and bigger and more concrete that you will never act, you will never change, you will never step into the amazing person and life you know you deserve.
You are the Master of your mind
But what you forget to tell yourself, is that these are just thoughts in your head. They’re not reality. How can they be? How can anyone know what you will or won’t do in the future. But everytime you listen to this voice, this negative voice reprimanding you, you give it a platform and it’s message gets more and more ingrained within you. It becomes bigger, stronger and more powerful, and soon you don’t even question it. You take the message to be fact. Think of these negative thoughts like a bully that lives within you. Don’t give it a platform to be heard on.
You control your thoughts, and you should be very careful what you allow to be said within your head.
Take Action
So next time this bully within you rears its head try something different.
- Be conscious: Be aware of what is happening. Really be conscious of what this ‘voice’ is saying to you. What words is it using. Is it angry, upset, indifferent? How is it making you feel?
- Recognition: Tell it thanks, but no thanks. It doesn’t work to just ignore it, don’t just push it away. You need to recognise it, but…you don’t need to accept it.
- Find evidence: Write a list of all the things you have done in the past that prove this voice wrong. You need to come up with evidence to prove the ‘voice’ wrong. This is how you get it to go away. For example; if it is saying ‘you never complete anything’ write a list of everything you have ever completed, however trivial it may be, from a course, to a book, to a film, to a meal you cooked.
The best first step to overcoming negative thoughts is just to start to be aware of them. This way you can break the cycle and create a new outcome.
It’s not complicated, but it does take practise. It’s very interesting once you start to recognise what is going on within your own head. And when you start doing this, it will give you so much more power and control in your life and how you choose to see yourself. And ultimately it is all about how you see yourself. If you see yourself as the amazing person you are, then nothing will ever get in your way.
