Thought Work Will Change Your Life
This topic has literally changed my life. When I changed my thought life, my whole world changed… including my health.
It all begins with how you see yourself.
A negative self-concept can lead to an unending cycle of negative thoughts. Do you find yourself in a cycle of negative thoughts? It all stems from how you perceive yourself and your abilities, your past experiences, and the possibilities of the future. In order to change our thoughts, we first need to change our self-concept which means becoming more aware of our self-critical or negative thoughts. So, how do we do this?
The power of positive thinking.
I know… “positive thinking”… it’s been overdone. But conceptually, positive thinking can dramatically affect our mind, body and spirit. It’s all connected.
People with frequent positive automatic thoughts are likely to respond to stress by feeling that their lives are more meaningful, while people with infrequent positive automatic thoughts are likely to respond to stress by feeling that their lives are less meaningful. Furthermore, higher levels of positive automatic thoughts are correlated with higher levels of happiness.
https://positivepsychology.com/challenging-automatic-thoughts-positive-thoughts-worksheets/
When we have a negative view of self we will automatically lean toward negative thoughts. Makes sense, right? To a degree, negative thinking is natural and impossible to totally eliminate it, but countering your negative thoughts with positive thoughts is the first step to reshaping your view of self.
- Identify the positive in events and people. This might mean questioning those negative thoughts that seem so automatic.
- Challenge your negative thoughts by countering with a positive thought. You might even consider setting aside time each day to reflect on your thoughts. Write down any negative thoughts you had for that day then write a positive counter thought.
NONE of our thoughts are permanent…unless we are silly and lazy enough to believe they are. It takes work to change them. It takes being sick and tired of being stuck in them and accepting them as the truth. It takes making a conscious effort to stop for a hot minute and ask ourselves if we really buy into our thoughts that serve as a sounding board for our feelings…leading to the behaviors. Many times, the behaviors that may not be warm and fuzzy but familiar. Many times, we accept and invite “familiar” because we don’t realize we have the ability to change our thoughts.
Thoughts Lead to Feelings that Lead to Behavior.
Our thoughts, actions and emotions create our personalities which create our reality. All of which is either conscious or subconscious. Conscious thoughts are the thoughts you are aware of and have more control over. Your subconscious thoughts are thoughts that come from your memory, thoughts that you are not focusing on and not aware of but are just there hanging out calling you names and reminding you of your past and holding you back from living a life that is full of joy and happiness. Subconscious thoughts can be detrimental to your mental health, success and manifesting your desired future. This is where most of your critical and self-sabotaging thoughts arise. Thoughts that lie dormant from when you were a child, memories whether good or bad, negative experiences that have created these thoughts do not help you with your potential and they definitely do not heal you feeling lost, depressed or not worthy.
Change your thoughts and you will change your life.
The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
Paying attention to your thinking can change your life. Did you know…
Your Thoughts affect your beliefs.
Your Beliefs affect your expectations.
Your Expectations affect your attitude.
Your Attitude affects your behavior.
Your Behavior affects your performance.
Your Performance will change your Life.
Be conscious of your THOUGHTS,
Realize your feelings stem from your THOUGHTS.
Your THOUGHTS become your words.
Be careful of your WORDS,
For your words become your actions.
Be careful of your ACTIONS,
For your actions become your habits.
Be careful of your HABITS,
For your habits become your character.
Be careful of your CHARACTER,
For your character become your DESTINY
Changing your thoughts can be challenging but not changing your thoughts will force you to stay stuck in places you may find you don’t want to be.
Interested in more? I would love to virtually meet to you! Email or call anytime to schedule a virtual session. (817) 701-5438 | beckylennox2018@gmail.com
Speaking Truth,
Becky Lennox
CRT, CCDC, CACC | Counselor & Life Coach
Empowering individuals, families and communities to grow and heal through advanced approaches in Creative Arts Therapy, setting the standard for treatment, practice and training within the field.
