The way you think and talk to yourself is imperative to your growth. If your self-talk is negative, it needs to change – how you think of yourself determines how much you’ll accomplish in this world.
It’s not about mindlessly repeating affirmations everyday like clockwork, but it’s about recognizing your potential. Why live with bad thoughts when you have the freedom to live with great thoughts?
Your Past Affects How You See Yourself
It’s understandable – some of us were raised in a toxic environment where people constantly said horrible things to us. They made sure to tell you how awful and stupid you were on a regular basis. After a while, it gets stuck in your head like a broken record and you began to believe it.
Your self-esteem is affected by this nonsense. Growing up, it unconsciously became your identity and you fell in line with those types of actions. “If they say I’m bad, then I’m bad…” you’d think to yourself.
Attempting to unlearn such terrible things is a challenge. When something has been cemented into your mind, it’s like it belongs there. Your brain doesn’t want to change, but this is a habit that you must make a concentrated effort to undo.
Speak Kindly To Yourself
You have the power to be kind – why not be kind to yourself?
People place doubts in our minds and we automatically accept it. We like to believe the bad before we believe the good. It’s easier and makes for better gossip. We love telling stories of other’s failures, but we quietly overlook the stories of triumph and success.
Even if you encounter an obstacle, it’s not the end. Don’t start thinking it’s all over and there’s nothing else that can be done. Those thoughts of defeat are lying to you. The opportunity is there to prove yourself that it can be done. Take the time to think it through with a winning mind.
In that moment, you have a choice. Will you think, “It’s no use – it’ll never happen…” or, “Let me do it the other way and see what happens…”? Your entire thought pattern leads to whether you will overcome that obstacle.
What’s In Your Think Tank?
It’s so much easier to think the worst before you think the best, but that’s where the change needs to happen. It doesn’t take any physical effort – all it takes is for you to switch your words, be positive and know that you are a problem-solver.
Be the opposite of what that little voice in your head says you are. Sometimes, all it takes is a positive song that picks you up to enhance your mood. When done intentionally, affirmations can work as well.
What you need to take away from this is that you have a choice. People will say negative things to you just because, but don’t let it stick. Have a mindset so strong that you set your own rules and thrive with confidence.
Your attitude is not contingent upon what someone else says – in fact, you can adjust it. Don’t depend on someone else to see the best in you – you must know it and believe it. Stay away from the trap of other people’s opinions.
We all have the ability to think magnificent thoughts. Why choose to think the worst? Be kind to yourself, spoil yourself with positive thoughts and take actions that inspire you to level up.
Knowing how to think is not a subject that is taught in schools. Instead, it is up to the parents to teach their child how to think, if they teach them at all. Some of us come into the world following someone else’s lead, not knowing that we can lead ourselves. This causes a world full of non-thinkers. Learning how to think should be a skill that is required learning.
Direct thoughts is using your own thoughts to guide you to a successful life. It is careful, intentional thought that leads to your desired outcome. Among other characteristics, it takes focus and self-discipline to navigate your thoughts to this level.
Too many people are going in the same direction, following the same Joe Shmoe. Students don’t question teachers, academically. School counselors determine the fate of the students and most students go with it, without knowing they have a choice. They no longer control their own thoughts, as they have given up that great privilege to someone else.
Plain and simple: if you are not thinking on your own, someone else is thinking for you. Following someone else relieves you of the task of directing your own thoughts. This fulfills their life and destroys yours.
Direct thinking is a skill that can be taught. First, you must realize that it is a skill, like focusing. You may not know how to do it, but you can learn and enhance upon it through practice.
The best time to learn direct thinking is when you’re a child. You can still learn as an adult, but the earlier you study it, the more you can use it to guide your desired goals.
In essence, direct thought is leading your thoughts towards a certain direction. You are responsible for guiding your own mind. Will you guide it towards a well-deserved positive path or will you guide it towards a lazy, average negative path?
How It All Begins
We are born with basic instincts. There is nothing on our newborn minds, as of yet.
Although we may not know it at the time, we pick up signals within our space. We hear the sounds and experience the environment.
As we get older, our minds become sponges. Habits are picked up and we begin to develop our own thought patterns, depending on our environment. Some environments are filled with love and support, while others lack those basic elements.
We should allow children to think for themselves. Let them experiment. Let them learn to embrace their own challenges without constant assistance. They should know what it takes to solve a problem or make adjustments to changing plans. This will serve them well in years to come.
Children should know it’s a privilege to think for themselves. Historically, people have been abused and scolded for thinking on their own. So called ‘superior’ people were supposed to do all of the thinking for the ‘inferior’ people. This happened in many countries, across the world.
Therefore, we should appreciate the fact that we have the power to direct our own thoughts and we should direct them well. If you aren’t sure how to go about managing your mind in this way, this book will show you how.
There are 3 thought patterns that are certain to happen, when you are on the journey to self-improvement. No matter how hard you try to focus and stay on your path, they’ll pop up, just to keep you from advancing to the next level.
If you know what these patterns are, it’s easier to recognize them when they appear. Therefore, you can manage them, accordingly.
Thought Patterns To Break
You can’t change the past. The only time you should look in the past is to see how far you’ve come. The fact that you’ve overcome those obstacles is something to be very proud of. Hindsight is 20/20 – we all can look back and see how we could have done things better, but don’t get stuck there. Thinking about how things would’ve turned out different if you had finished college or married the nerd and not the bad boy, doesn’t help you right now. It’s impossible to change that. The only thing you can do now is move on and make better decisions that your future self will thank you for.
It’s not over until you quit. You are not a loser if you encounter a challenge. These things will happen and in order to breakthrough, you need to know how to handle them effectively. You only fail when you quit. How many times have we seen the scenario of the last second, game-winning shot? The impossible can happen when you don’t give up. Even if it doesn’t turn out in your favor, take it as a lesson and apply it the next time around. It’s not over until you say it’s over. Keep finding solutions and moving forward.
Other people’s judgment of you isn’t who you are. People who are jealous will show their insecurities by putting them on you. If they think they’re ugly, they’ll call you ugly. If they think they can’t succeed, they’ll call you a failure. Allowing that negativity to penetrate your mind will cause harm. When you hear someone being judgmental, discard it immediately. Don’t let it float around in your head because, eventually, you’ll start to believe it. Take compliments, but reject judgment.
What Do You Think, Literally?
Be protective of your mental state. The 3 things mentioned above can easily hijack the progress of your goal, so be aware.
Your environment is very important. Create the habit of having positive thoughts and people around you. It’s hard to remain positive, but it’s easy to slip into being negative.
Always read and listen to motivational platforms (blogs, podcast, videos, etc). Make your immediate surroundings full of encouragement and inspiration. Take care of your mindset to the point where it won’t be disturbed by anything distracting.
You may not be in control of what is around you at all times, but you are in control of your mind and how you use it. Your thoughts will create your future, so defend it to the fullest.
“I can’t hear myself think!” Those are the words of my mother, whenever it was too loud or she needed to get away from a crowd of people. I never understood what she meant, until I became older.
Some of us have a fear of being alone. We’ve been raised to have a social life and to not be anti-social. We have friends at school, friends at work and our family around us at our every waking moment.
There’s a time to be social and a time to be alone. It can be kind of hard to sift through your thoughts and make decisions when there’s a lot going on around you, so isolating yourself helps.
It’s good to have people around you, but don’t be afraid to be alone at times. Your best productivity can come from being alone.
Being alone encourages us to think our own thoughts. When you’re around other people, you hear many ideas and opinions that may be different from your own. When you’re alone, you have the mental space to discover how you feel about certain things. You have a chance to come up with your own beliefs and standards. There’s no one to bombard you with their thoughts.
Being alone helps you to work independently. It’s easy to hide within a group. Receiving praise or criticism is a lot better when it’s spread around to many people. When you work by yourself, you learn to take full responsibility for what you do. Also, you have complete control over what you’re trying to accomplish. Your creativity has no bounds when you’re working independently.
Being alone allows you to spend time with the most important person – you. Listen to your own thoughts and ideas. Get to know you. Every morning, before you walk out into the world, learn to have peace with yourself. You are in charge of building and becoming the person you want to be. When you know who you are, you’re more comfortable with what goes on outside of yourself.
Sitting with yourself gives you the opportunity to remove yourself from the dramatics of life and to get clear on what you want. It allows you to think through your goals and create effective plans. Others may tell you that being by yourself is weird, but it promotes a sense of wellness and productive independence. You are using your power to create a calmness that only you can give yourself.
There are times where we need to be with ourselves, to recognize what we truly want. We let other people take control of situations without thinking, simply because it’s ‘easier’ at the moment. Sometimes, the talking and all of the commotion can drown out what you really think. By being alone, you give your thoughts and ideas a chance to breathe and come alive. Clarity often comes through isolation.
Anyone can hide in a crowd, but it takes a strong person to stand alone. Take some time to be alone and to ‘hear yourself think’. Experience the wonderful ideas that’s been lurking around in your mind and follow through with action!
We all think of things we should’ve done a long time ago. Ideas seem to come too late, or do they?
Thoughts and ideas don’t come late, we respond late. When you see something, do you say, “I had that idea 2 years ago!”? It happens to all of us.
You can be mad and stuck on the fact that someone else ‘stole’ your idea and put it out to the world, or you can take the next idea you have and begin working on it.
Often, we have thoughts and ideas and our immediate reaction is, “If this worked, someone would have done it already.” Maybe the world is waiting on you to do it.
Don’t allow your ideas to slip away. Now that we have the internet, we can easily do the research and put things together more easily than before. All you have to do is gather the information you need and start the process.
This doesn’t mean it will be easy. It means you will have access to clues and various material, which gives you the opportunity to figure it out. The rest is up to you.
Of course, if you do nothing, nothing will happen. There’s just the possibility of someone else taking the time and energy to make it work and putting out the same idea.
Don’t get mad, get started.
You have a real chance at making your idea come to fruition. If you begin today, imagine where your idea would be in 5 years. Even if it doesn’t work out, you made a conscious attempt at it. You’ll never have the mental burden of ‘what-if?’.
Put yourself in the mind of being 80 years old. What would be the things you wished you would’ve done? Whatever you come up with, that’s what you should do. As said before, if it doesn’t work out, you did make an honest effort.
Spare yourself the pain of regret. Plant your seed today. If it stays in your mind, it doesn’t happen. Give it the rain and sunshine it deserves. Make it happen by taking action and putting forth a sincere and intentional effort, today.
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