The first small step we shared was constantly asking yourself, “Is this the best use of my time?” That led me to ask this question throughout the day: Is this the best use of my thoughts right now? The mind averages sixty thousand thoughts per day, and some experts estimate that 80% of these are negative.
Thoughts lead to beliefs, beliefs dictate action and action leads to results. In other words, the results you want to achieve are pretty much directly related to your thoughts. So, when you catch yourself doing the negative self-talk dance, think: How can I change this thought to a positive one that will bring me closer to my goals?
My negative thoughts: Lately they feel like they’ve been on a rampage, so I use a technique created by renowned self-help author Byron Katie, where you simply query the thought by asking: “Is it true? Are you 100% sure that it’s true? (Hint: It usually never is).
Next question: “Who would you be without that thought?” VERY powerful question – in most cases the answer is something like “free, happy, more loving.”
Next question: Can you think of a stress-free reason to hold onto that thought? Never! Finally, “turn the thought around.” So, “I’m terrible at dealing with finances” becomes “I’m empowered in my financial life!” Usually does the trick – for more information on this wonderful technique, pick up the book “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie. It’s so good; I’ve found it very productive to keep it close by.
We welcome examples and tricks for changing your negative thoughts to positive ones – 80% negative out of 60,000 means 48,000 thoughts we could live without every single day. I suppose I could be upset about that number, but I’d rather stay positive!
Stay tuned to learn how I found out the hard way that “A Man is Not a Financial Plan!”