Dr. Dennis Gersten, of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology said the average person has 15,000 thoughts per day. Of those thoughts, 2/3 are usually negative. True statement: If you change your thoughts, you can absolutely change your life. A negative mind becomes a barrier to a vibrant life. A barrier is a mental or emotional obstacle that hinders progress. When you allow yourself to have a negative mind, you sabotage yourself!


 

Think of the SUBCONCIOUS MIND as the STORAGE ROOM of everything that is currently not in your conscious mind. Our subconscious mind has an enormous impact on our day-to-day experiences and our interaction with the world around us. The subconscious mind stores all of your previous life experiences, your beliefs, your memories, your skills, all situations you've been through and all images you've ever seen. Sometimes we store up, “limiting beliefs,” in our subconscious minds.

Limiting beliefs will force you to live below your potential and they can ruin your life completely. Limiting beliefs are usually disguised in the form of real beliefs (what you think is the truth but it’s not) and that's why spotting them is sometimes really hard. When you get a limiting belief, your life loses its richness because you are not able to perceive it correctly. For example, if you got hurt in a relationship and you start believing that people are not to be trusted, this limiting belief will not allow you to pursue friendships or love for fear of being hurt. If the limiting belief is about yourself, you may stay stuck thinking you are unworthy of good things. There is a great difference between saying "I failed" and saying "I am a failure".

 

All day long our mind is filled to the brim with thoughts. (What to do, what to say, how to feel) It is easy to slip into low energy thoughts, particularly when things aren’t going well. Dr. Wayne Dyer describes low energy thoughts as Worry, Shame, Hate, Guilt and Fear. When we think low energy thoughts, we attract more of the same. We even practice, “catastrophe thinking.” We actually make up what we think other people are thinking about us! The worst-case scenario becomes our first thought. Victim thinking. It’s easier to complain.

 

This kind of thinking creates Anxiety, Anger, Frustration and Depression. It wastes time, zaps our energy, and makes us completely miserable. Most of the time it is ourselves that nurture negative thinking. Should you believe everything you think? Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

 

So what do you do? You’ve got to, “CATCH & Release!” Catch yourself slipping into negative thinking and Release that thought to God. Make a serious effort to identify the negative thought as it comes and consciously let it go. It also helps to create positive visuals everywhere! VISION BOARDS are extremely helpful to focus on your goals and positive imagery.

The Bible says, “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – if anything is excellent or praise-worthy – think on such things.” (Philippians 4:8) Make it a NEW HABIT to not be critical about small things and to not be critical with yourself.

 

By taking these two steps you can replace the bad habit of negative thoughts, with thoughts of hope, gratitude and joy. I’m not telling you it will be easy. I’m telling you it will be worth it.