Growth Promoting, Soul Destroying or somewhere in between
When you’re alone with your thoughts, where does your mind go? What do
you tell yourself? When faced with a problem (or challenge as many prefer to
call it), where does your mind go? What sort of questions do you ask yourself?
Does your mind take you on a journey of beauty, belief, hope, solutions, love and
happiness or into the shadows of despair, anger, helplessness, hopelessness, cant's and
fear? Is your mind stuck on repeat of past trauma or not so successful
experiences or in the magic of the moment and all that is and can be?
One of our greatest hurdles is our internal dialogue. The thoughts,
conversations and questions that run through our minds, where nobody but you
can hear, can feel. It's that very dialogue that plays an integral part in your
happiness, success and life experience.
NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming teaches us how quickly we can change
from one state (of mind) to another just by way of our thoughts, our focus. We all possess
the power to choose. However, it lies dormant in so many people.
You can take a 'thought inventory' to check in with your thoughts and to see where your mind goes. It's a simple exercise that requires only pen and paper or any technology that allows you to take notes.
This simple exercise will help you shed light on the world you experience and can lead you into a glorious
shift and new awareness. A shift into feeling happier, more productive, more
positive, more alive. You see, many people want to make changes, they want to feel better
but they a) don't know how to go about it. Many thinking "it's too hard" or "I
can't help thinking that" b) they want results but are not prepared to do
anything. For any change to occur you have to change what's not working, you
have to take action. The thought inventory exercise will help you uncover what
needs to change in your way of thinking.
Once completed read through your notes. Did you notice any patterns?
Are you more of a best friend to yourself; encouraging, helpful,
positive, finding solutions. Or are you your own enemy; beating yourself up,
dragging yourself down. It's interesting how we can easily encourage, pump up,
provide solutions and reassurance to our friends but often we can't do that for
ourselves. You know the drill: "hello __ (friend’s name) __ how are
you?" "I'm ok, but I'm worried about _____", "oh, don't
worry it will all work out, have you tried x,y,z".
Once you've raised awareness of your thoughts you can then begin to replace
them. With determination, self-belief and consistent repetitive actions that
are growth promoting. Remind yourself daily to be a friend to yourself. Read positive helpful books, use quotes, affirmations and things that will trigger your mind to your new
desired way of thinking. Introduce an attitude of gratitude. You can change the way you think. The proof will be
in your experiences and your state of mind.
Become aware of what you think, what you focus on; because that will determine your life experience.
We have been given a beautiful gift from the universe, this moment.
Spend your
moments:
So that your moments aren't spent or wasted in conflict, sabotage or struggle with yourself.
There's 21621444 seconds left, no 21621443, 21621442 (ok you see where I'm going with that) - use them well! To grow, to love, to be aware, to be well, to be happy, to be alive - fully alive!
Important: If you uncover something that feels traumatic or painful for you - speak to someone; a professional or someone you trust. In this day and age you should never have to suffer in silence, help is always available to those who seek it.
Karen Offord › Blog 2018 › Internal Dialogue