When was the last time you updated your computer? Pretty recently I’ll bet. Updates happen fairly regularly and we’re cued to install the new improved version for our benefit and safety.
But when was the last time you updated your thoughts and beliefs? Do you know you can use mind power to do that?
Science reveals that of the 60-70,000 thoughts we have every day, 90% of those thoughts are the same as the day before. Therefore, 90% of the time our life will be a repeat of the day before.
Think about that for a minute…
Our life will be a repeat of the day before if we don’t change our thoughts.
Ever hear the saying, “Insanity is expecting a different result while doing the same things over and over again”?
We can’t expect real change if we keep doing the same things. To get different results we need to have different thoughts.
But how do you do that?
Table of Contents
Use Mind Power to Become Consciously Aware of Your Unconscious Thoughts
Let’s start with some definitions for clarity.
To be conscious means to have critical awareness, or using awareness to notice what you’re thinking.
The unconscious, by contrast, is when you have no direct awareness of what you’re doing. This is a general term and can be subdivided further into subconscious, preconscious, nonconscious, and more. Even Freud had problems deciding which term to use. Since this isn’t an academic paper and specifics will just drag us down, let’s just use the term unconscious from here on to indicate thoughts and beliefs that we aren’t immediately aware of ??.
Why is Change so Difficult?
If you’ve ever tried to change but couldn’t get it to stick, I’ve got some good news. It’s not you, it’s your automatic programs. Neuroscientist and author Dr. Joe Dispenza states that by the time you're 35 years old, 95% of your personality consists of reactions that have been ingrained so often they become unconscious reactions (done without your awareness).
For example, have you ever driven home after work and realized you don’t remember what took place in between? Your morning routine is the same, your drive to work the same route, you react to your coworkers the same way, you watch the same tv shows… Do you see where this is going? Repetitive tasks become automatic programs and then unconscious, meaning the body does it without you having to think about it.
You could be living your life on autopilot…
Why Would You Want to Change?
Do you have limiting beliefs when it comes to starting or growing your side hustle? How would you even know?
Well, it could show up in repetition. If you continually notice the same outcome over different situations, that could indicate a limiting belief. For example, if you have multiple side hustle ideas but act on none, that could indicate you have a limiting belief that maybe you don't have the skills to get started.
Thoughts of personal judgement are also examples of limiting beliefs. Those beliefs might include:
- I’m not very good at this
- I don’t know what to do
- I can’t
- I shouldn’t
- How dare I want more
Ask yourself if those are your beliefs or something that has been imposed upon you. Is the belief something you truly believe or have you learned it from others?
Those external beliefs can come from friends, family, even society at large.
No judgement here, just a realization that it’s an actual block and that now might be the time to think differently.
Ask yourself: Is this what you want to believe going forward? Is it in your best interest to continue to believe these limiting thoughts? Shout NO at your screen NOW if it's not what you want to believe!!!
Having the realization that something in your life isn’t working is the perfect opportunity to change it. It takes guts to look at that, so give yourself credit for that first step.
When you change your thinking, you change your reality, and you need no one’s permission to change but your own.
How to Change Using the Power of Your Mind
You’ve identified what you want to change and have the intention to change it. The next part may seem elementary, but how to change starts with becoming aware of your thoughts. Use the power of the mind to become aware of those thoughts.
Write them down. Notebooks, journals, apps, use them all. Remember that stat of 60,000 thoughts a day? You’re bound to bump into a few anytime you stop to observe your thoughts.
Observe yourself. This is not about vanity. Knowing how you think, how you act, and how you feel is not self-centered. When you know yourself better and how your mind works, you will have the power to understand what makes you happy, what trips you up (and therefore what to avoid), and when to come up with productivity hacks to bypass your predispositions.
Shout Out “Change”
Once you know what your thoughts are, you can change them. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. Consider how you want things to be different. What does that look like?
When you realize during your day that you’re thinking in old patterns, silently say to yourself “change”. This interrupts the thought pattern. Insert a new more positive thought in its place. It takes awareness but is so worth the effort. Make it a game, shouting “Change!” at the top of your lungs in a funny voice (when appropriate!). There is more power behind change when it's easy and fun for your mind.
Know Your Predispositions
Do you know how you work? I know your intentions are good, but what’s the reality? Are you distracted easily? Do you sit down to write your morning pages only to remember that you have a stack of laundry that needs to be done and off you go? Or do you sit motionless at your computer screen and bang out 5,000 words without rest because that’s what you decided to do?
Know how you work best. Is it under pressure? Is it timed? Is it relaxed when everything has already been attended to?
This isn’t about flogging yourself for your perceived weaknesses. It’s about becoming more aware of your predispositions and working with them.
It works both ways
It works both ways, too. Have you ever sat down to crank out some work, thinking it would take the entire 90-minute time block, and when done realize it only took 60-minutes? What changed? What was your mindset going in? What was going on around you? Did you just write a list of things you need to do later and forget about everything except the work that had to get done?
A friend once mentioned that when she has thoughts that persist, she delegates those thoughts to her ego, thereby giving it the job of reminding her later. Amazingly, the thoughts went away and so did the negative chatter. The ego just wants to keep you safe, and when you’re trying to change it starts to panic. Acknowledging that negative chatter
So Many Questions
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that I’m prompting you to ask yourself a lot of questions. Not only are these important questions to know the answers to, but the process of really getting to know your inner workings is, frankly, mind expanding. We humans weren’t meant to be static. We change and evolve, and so should our thinking and beliefs. We can use the power of our mind to create change in our lives.
If you want to take a deeper dive into changing your thoughts and beliefs, check out this meditation
Action Steps
Your immediate action steps are to:
- Identify something in your life that isn’t working for you. Just pick one thing.
- Write down the thoughts you have around that situation
- Come up with options for different thoughts around the situation
- Bring awareness to your old patterns (this is the mind power part!) and when they arise, say “change” to yourself as a trigger for the new thought you want to insert
- Repeat until the new thought or belief becomes the new unconscious (positive!) program
You are unlimited. You can change anything once you bring awareness to it and get your behavior to match your intention. Know that of the infinite possibilities available, a path to your chosen outcome exists. You just have to believe it.
