What Happens When Talk Back to Your Negative Thought?

February 15, 2019 laurenemiller7@gmail.com

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Talk Back to Your Negative Thought

How many times does a negative thought pop up in your mind and you give it center stage? You are attentive, you listen, you even replay it and gather similar thoughts to back up and support your negative thought. What’s up with that?

What percentage of your attitude in any given day is driven by a negative thought that you find yourself chasing around and around? Similar to a hamster wheel, you spin frantically around in your mind, running as fast as you can trying to find the exit (a solution, an answer or understanding).

Often your thoughts spill into three buckets: blame, complain, justify.

In neuroscience, they refer to Bottom Up and Top Down Thinking. As we continue the theme of a lighter version of you in 2019 let’s focus on Top Down thinking which gives you the opportunity to talk back to your negative thought and seek out possible solutions. This is the space in the brain that allows you to put the brakes on that hamster wheel, step away from the drama and choose responses to situations that align with the person you are committed to being.

For example, I recently heard the following statement, since we are coming up on Valentine’s Day this is a timely topic: “Nothing EVER works out for me when it comes to relationships. I’ll never find the right person.” Now as soon as you use a universal quantifier phrase like: nothing, never, nobody, you flip into Bottom Up thinking which creates a ton of anxiety in the body and results in impoverished views of reality…it’s a mind prison with no exit.

Let’s take the same theme and flip it into a Top Down thinking phrase: “I am seeking out a healthy relationship in my life. I have not found the lasting relationship I am looking for….YET…and I am open to tuning into opportunities to make that happen easily and naturally moving forward.”

Do not let your thoughts be the boss of you, talk back. Get out from under the bus of victimizing thoughts and learn how to drive the bus.

Neuroscience has a phrase: neurons that fire together re-wire together. What the heck does that mean? A thought creates a message sent through a neuron that triggers emotions (your body’s response to your thought life).

If you fire enough of the same neurons over and over and over you create a HUB, a kind of home base messaging system that is fueled and sustained by the thoughts you fire. Common themes of thoughts rewire together and sustain the message. Be very careful what you think because your body is reacting to your thoughts. Too often we become imprisoned by a negative thought HUB that we are sustaining.

Believe it or not stress is optional depending upon your messaging systems. Is life for you or against you? The choice is yours and makes all the difference when it comes to your sense of safety, connection, wellbeing, confidence etc. Your attitude towards any situation directly effects the outcomes you experience.

Take Action:

In the Shift Leadership Program, we encourage participants to watch the Video Below by Dr. Joe Dispenza. Do you recognize a similar situation in your life that creates stress and anxiety? You have the choice to talk back to your thoughts and shift your perspectives of situations by intentionally firing new messages.
This week keep note of what stresses you out each day. At the end of the week reflect on your notes and look for a common theme. This will shine the light of your awareness on a messaging system. Start rewiring your brain to include messages of positivity, possibility, curiosity, confidence and love.