Automatic Thoughts – Weight and Duration

We have automatic thought patterns that we developed because we gave them weight and repetition.  One day we said “Yes, this is who I am, and this is how things are and this is how I will be”.  We gave them weight.  

Then we think these thoughts over and over.  We repeated them so many times until they became a habit – our programming.

Your brain is the hardware.  It does not care what software you put in.  It can be used for good or for negative things.  It can support you or haunt you.  It has no preference.  We must control the software and if it needs an upgrade or to be reprogrammed, we must do it.

Most people program themselves the first time, and run on that program forever, and never change it.  It literally becomes who they are in the world and who they show up as day after day, over and over again.

Is that true in your life?  Have you reached the limits of what your mental conditioning has to offer you?  Do you want more or a better life?  Then you have to change your thoughts – those habitual defining thoughts that come up over and over again.  Those thoughts determine how you respond to the world and tell you what you should and should not do or try or be.

More tomorrow…

Changing your thought patterns

To change our recurring thought patterns, first, we have to notice them. 

Check-in with yourself and pay attention to your thoughts in the morning, the middle of the day, and towards the end.  Ask “Where are my thoughts?” and “Are they supporting me or automatically coming up negative and protective and not helping my life?”

The more we notice, the more we can interrupt our thoughts and redirect them by choosing a different more positive, and helpful thought on purpose.

Then override and overwrite the thought with a positive one – even if you don’t believe it at first.  Think about thoughts that will help you be more powerful and confident and that will help you achieve what you want.  “I am loving and open and I enjoy seeing people smile and respond to me” or “I can do this, and I am worthy of getting great results”.  Whatever it is that is the positive opposite of the negative thoughts you habitually generate – think them on purpose and will them out.  Say them out loud if you have to.  Feel it.  Sense a great outcome.  Put emotion into your positive thought.  Be vivid.  Envision the better you like a fortune teller says what will happen.

Your old lazy negative conditioned mind will want to take over again and again.  Say NO!  Keep over-writing it with positive thoughts that are helpful in your life.  Keep interrupting it until it becomes the new habit of thinking.

More tomorrow…

Recurring thoughts

Your brain is lazy.  It doesn’t want to do any new thinking because that takes energy.  We’re programmed to conserve calories because not long ago we didn’t know where the next ones would come from.

So your brain developed automatic recurring thought patterns that it keeps bringing up for you over and over.  Are those thoughts negative?  “People are attacking me, go hide, play small and keep your head down so we don’t get hurt or lose”.

What is your automatic inner voice saying?  It’s running the show – you know that right?

So how do we change that?

More tomorrow… 

Can we do it without good character?

Character – The inherent complex of attributes that determines a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions.  Good repute (the state of being in high esteem of honor.)

Can we live a successful life without having good character?

Can we be our best selves without above-average character?

Can we achieve high goals without good character?

"An ever-improving life"

Embarking on an ever-expanding ever-improving life does not mean increasing only the one dimension you have been focusing on.  It means using your talents, experience and resources to be the best person you can be.

What else can you do that is worthy and fulfilling?

What's next for you?

Your current condition isn’t the result of who you are now, but of who you were in past years.  Your results and conditions are really just a physical manifestations of your previous thoughts, feelings, and actions.  The results you get in the future will be a manifestation of your thoughts, feelings, and actions of today.

Therefore you should ask – 

What do you want in the next chapter/season of your life?

The goals you set three years ago were set by a different you.  Today you stand in a different place and have a different view.

Who do you have to be right now to get it?

Pleasure and Joy/Satisfaction – not the same

Not all actions that bring pleasure also bring joy and satisfaction.  Some things that bring us pleasure can lead to our ruin.  Actions that are true to good character and produce joy and satisfaction for the long term are what we want.

What gives you joy in life?

What makes life worthwhile?

A good day today sets you up for another…

Doing your best in this moment sets you up for the next.

Having a great hour improves your chances that the next hour will go well too.

Having a good day, increases your chances of having another one.

There’s a great case to do your best in the next five minutes.

When life gives you a sh*t sandwich…

The measure of a person is how they respond when things go bad.

How are you responding?

Success is…

There are a lot of different definitions of success, and I think the variation is from different people wanting different things.  

Here’s one definition from Kathy Kolbe – 

Success – the freedom to be yourself.