Every day, with every thought and every moment, we're getting closer to the grave, right? NO WAY! In fact, what a horrible way to think! If that's your thought process then keep reading because this is going to blow your mind.
Here's the premise: Your body, down to the very last cell, is "listening" to your thoughts.
Take a moment to let that sink in. Your body, down to the very last cell, is "listening" to your thoughts. As a thought experiment (literally) write down all of the things you can remember thinking today before you sat down to read this article. As many things as you can remember without any judgment. I'm not going to see this so don't worry about what you write down.
Now, put a star or a circle around every "positive" thought you had. Things like, "I look good today" or "Yea, I AM a rockstar" or, even, "I love my (insert person)".
Using a dash or a frowny face, identify all of the "negative" thoughts on the list. These might read like, "Ugh, I'm so fat" or "People suck" or "They are such a pain in the butt!"
These are all just innocent little thoughts, right? Floating around in your head? Wrong.
They aren't "innocent". Our bodies are monuments to our thinking. If you don't believe that, consider for a moment, any elite athlete you've ever seen. The Olympics have just wrapped up at the time of writing and I have to ask myself, "What are these people thinking?" but I mean that in a different way than you might think. I actually want to know, "What ARE they thinking? What is it they are telling their bodies?"
Ever noticed when you've gone for a long walk or run and, when you're struggling to take those last few steps, there is a little voice in your head that says either something like, "I just can't do it, Captain...I don't have the power!" or "You got this! Just a little bit further!". Ever noticed how, even if you don't feel like you can go on, if you hear that second voice, somehow you eke out that ONE last step to finish strong.
Your body was listening. And, just like a good employee, it was following your orders.
So, let's back-track. When you tell yourself, "Ugh, I'm so fat", what orders is your body obliged to perform on your behalf? If you say, "I'm SO tired" what options are you leaving your body? Or, and here's a big one, "I'm getting so old". Yikes!
Whether or not one can visualize it being true or not, our cells are intelligent and they're listening to everything we say to ourselves. They aren't creative enough on their own to come up with half of the things we experience from health to disease. They are taking our lead.
That's a hard pill to swallow, I know. It's even more challenging because of course, that means in order to change, we must take up the call to monitor our own thoughts. Before I continue, I promised you 3 steps.
1) Become aware of the thoughts you're thinking on a regular basis
I highly recommend keeping a pad of paper near your dominant hand, especially during work. Whenever a thought crosses your mind, notice it and write it down. Don't give it any more thought...just write it down and move on with your day.
2) Review and revise your thoughts daily
When the end of the day has arrived, take a look at your notepad. Notice, like we did before, the quality of your thoughts, "negative" or "positive". Be grateful for the positive thoughts and reinforce them...notice how good they made you feel to think them and for whatever was happening for you when you thought them.
For the "negative" thoughts, ask yourself whether they are in alignment with who you really are or who you want to be. Here's a helpful hint: Telling yourself you're fat doesn't put you in alignment with a thinner/fitter version of yourself. It in fact puts you further away from that ideal. The next step will help though.
3) Get rhetorical by asking "How did I.....?" and "How do I...?"
Some people might tell you to chant a mantra"I'm so fit, "I'm so fit, I'm so fit" a million times. But, and this might come as a shock, there's a bit of a problem with that approach. You see, the conscious mind has, let's call it a gate through which ideas, concepts, and other such external input must pass. At this gate is a gatekeeper. All day long, it's this gatekeeper's job to say "Yea" or "Nay" to whatever is coming through the gate.
Don't knock it, this is a highly sophisticated security system. "I'm so fit" when all of the evidence points to otherwise is going to get turned away from the gate all day every day.
But there's a loophole...a way to get your gatekeeper to get up and find a solution, rather than just pass judgment. Ask it "how"? The gatekeeper is going to come to a halt and, more than likely going to have to consult a higher authority, your subconscious mind who will, inevitably, produce an answer.
When reviewing positive thoughts like, "I'm so successful", if you want to be more successful, ask yourself, (rhetorically), "How did I get so successful?" You don't have to answer the question...that's not the goal.
For negative thoughts like, I'm so fat" (my favorite example), why not ask, "How do I get fit?" Again, your goal is not to answer the question but to allow an answer to come to you. Your job is to listen for the feedback from within.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking, "Sure, no big deal...just monitor my thoughts 24/7 and ask myself rhetorical questions because I have all the time in the world to do that!"
I get it. On the face it looks, "easy" but if we're being honest, it's not. Not even a little bit. Before I knew about coaching, I had a hard time with this. To be honest, some days I still do. That's why I have a coach, myself.
A coach is someone who reminds you what you're trying to align to and keeps you on track in your thoughts, behavior, goals, and planning to get there.
I'm here to help. If anything you read feels right to you but you're not sure how to do it and know you need some help, let's chat. There's no obligation. I'm going to try to sell you into anything overpriced and fluffy.
I just want to help you figure out your next step. My clients succeed. Most of them feel younger now than they have in decades but the journey starts within. With just a thought.
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