Are You the Hero of Your Thoughts?

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A woman looking out the window deep in thought
Image via iStock.

Thoughts are very powerful. Everything in your external world started as a thought in your internal world.  

Your belief system is the product of ideas you have been exposed to throughout your life. Thousands of years of wisdom, experience, and observation have proven that you become what you think about all day long. 

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes” (Disraeli). It is the focus and habit of our thoughts that shape our lives.  

Take time today to listen to your thoughts.  What are the thoughts that you come back to often? Are they positive or negative? Do you have the same types of recurring conflicts or successes?

Make some observations in a journal over a week or so to reveal the patterns of thought and action.

When you have identified the negative thread that is taking over your thoughts, think back to where this negative bias took root.  Dig a bit to expose the cause so that you can combat and debunk it.  Look honestly and don’t be distracted by unfounded fears. 

If you are, for example, constantly thinking about failure in moving to a different career or living situation, start a list of why you can be successful in a new place. Often, we let fear take hold because we haven’t taken the time to define success, yet we expect to feel successful suddenly. Maybe you are afraid you won’t make new friends in a different city. 

Look at your friendships now; how did they arise? Can you replicate those things again? Write down what success in a new city or job would look like.

Perhaps you fear pitching an unsuccessful idea at work.  List the successful things you have done and the allies you have in the office.  Remind yourself that you have had both success and mistakes in your past.  Everyone does!  When you have made suggestions in the past that weren’t adopted, look carefully and learn what did and did not work and why.

Fight your way through the negativity in small steps, increasing your confidence one win at a time. Keep a journal or list on your phone of the times when you pushed against the fear and won. 

Even from the times when things didn’t go as hoped, learn to embrace the fact that you are still here, that even making a mistake did not crush you. Making mistakes is a part of learning.  In fact, if you never allow yourself to make mistakes, you will be robbing yourself of so much growth.

Change the habit of self-recrimination to a habit of thoughtful evaluation and progression. If it’s the habits of thought that create a life, make the habit one that is going to bring you joy and success. 

Every hero story has moments where the hero makes mistakes.  But they still save the day in the end, and you will too! Be the hero of your own story.

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