Your brain believes what you tell it. Technically it is not a muscle but for all intents and purposes when it comes to thoughts, it behaves like one. The messages it receives consistently and repetitively are the strongest, just like muscles. If you want a great booty, you squat regularly. If you want cardiovascular stamina, you train high intensity interval training consistently. The brain’s strongest thoughts are the ones you feed it routinely.
If you are human, it is natural to have self doubt, anxiety, fear of failure, fear of success, fear in general. So how do we go beyond the natural thoughts and change the message our brain receives? It is the step after the thought that makes all the difference. Self talk we can control.
We can change our thoughts over time by challenging them with different self talk.
Here’s how.
Recognize the negative thought:
“I hate running”
“I am a terrible cook”
“I am ugly/fat/skinny/short/too tall”
“I will never figure this out”
…. And the list goes on. Everyone can relate to these types of thoughts. If you are human, youhave had thoughts like these. Hint: If you are reading this, you are human. 🙂
Next Step, challenge the thought with a different message:
“I will get better at running by sticking with it.”
“I am learning how to cook tasty meals.”
“I am taking control of the way I talk to myself. I would not let anyone else talk to me this way, so instead I am going to repeat something different…I am healthy, I am strong, I am grateful for my health…”
“I will take it one step at a time until I figure it out. I can ask for help if I need it.”
Challenging the negative thought with positive self talk is the key. You can control the message you repeat. Good news….the more you repeat the new forward-looking message, the more it will become your natural first thought!
Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. Give yourself two weeks. Pay attention and acknowledge your negative thought when it appears. Then, challenge it with something positive. When the thought reappears, and you know it will, challenge it again. Be relentless with the new positive message. The great part about this; you don’t have to start out believing the new mantra.
Eventually, like a muscle, the positive thought will get stronger and push the negative thought away!
Are you ready to start making positive changes?
Our personal training program offers a custom-approach to your challenges.
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