Henry Ford once said “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”. You’d be amazed at how often we sabotage the outcomes we want simply by our own unhelpful or negative thinking. Shifting to more positive thought patterns helps rewire our brains for success.
Do you have things on your to-do list which always sit at the bottom and never get done? Very often these can be the things that might unlock great benefits for you if only you’d get round to them. Well, behind every uncompleted task lies a negative thought pattern. Chances are you’re telling yourself “it’ll take too long”, or “it’ll be too difficult” or maybe something even more personal ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m not the sort of person who could…’
Our minds are very good at following the instructions we give them – whether these instructions are helpful or not! And if you’re telling yourself you can’t do it, then you’ll probably procrastinate like a pro. A much more useful approach is to tell yourself you can do it and that you want to do it – attach emotional excitement to the outcome. This puts you in a much more resourceful state and you will find a way to do it.
Here are some examples of negative thinking you should look out for, and erase from your vocabulary:
- I can’t
- I shouldn’t
- I could never…
These statements rarely get you where you want to be.
The “shouldn’t” is an interesting one. If you’re trying to lose weight and you tell yourself “I shouldn’t eat that chocolate”, guess what? This sense of denial is just ramping up your desire for that chocolate and at some point you’ll crack. A better way to phrase things if you want to avoid something is to use the language of choice. “I’m choosing to eat healthy foods” or “I’m choosing to call a friend, not call on chocolate when I need a boost”. Notice how much more empowering this feels than an unappealing “shouldn’t”.
So if for example “go to networking event” has been lurking ignored on your to-do list for many months, examine whether this is because you’ve been telling yourself “I hate networking events, I can’t talk to strangers”. If so, go ahead and change these thoughts. Focus on the positive outcome that put that item on your to-do list in the first place “I can make connections, it’ll help progress my career and it may well be fun.”
Then visualise the event going exactly as you want it to do (retraining your brain to expect a positive outcome) and take the first step to achieving your goal – in this case researching a suitable networking event and getting booked on.
Positive thoughts and language help rewire our brains for success. Let me know what you’ve moved up your to-do list today.