The Power of Thoughts and Beliefs

 

You may be aware that I am a Master Practitioner in NLP, (neuro linguistic programming) which means I fully understand how our thoughts can influence our behaviour in a positive or negative way. 

 

Do you think the quotes are true and make sense? 

 

Have you noticed when you have nothing but negative thoughts flowing through your mind, how it affects the way you feel and then behave? 

 

The reality is thoughts have no power, it’s only when we actively invest our attention into them that they seem real. I don’t know if you know this, but our brain is wired to create images, and images for some reason stay fixed in our sub-conscious mind. 

 

When we dream, our mind believes that whatever is happening in this dream is absolutely real, which is why we wake up with a start or jump out of our sleep. We’ve all had the classic dream of falling… right? Well if you continue to have negative thoughts in your mind associated with negative images they could appear as being real and of course that will undoubtedly affect your emotions and how you feel. 

 

When we engage with a specific thought, we begin to feel the emotions that were triggered by these thoughts, we enter a new emotional state which influences our behaviour and how we act. 

 

The above diagram is known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. 

 

Aaron Beck was the pioneer of CBT in the 1960’s, he studied and practiced psychoanalysis and carried out many experiments to do with depression. What he discovered was patients had what he called automatic thoughts, that fell into three categories: 

 

Beck began working with patients to either dispute or challenge these automatic negative thoughts, so that they would think in a more realistic manner. 

 

CBT, NLP, Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness, can help individuals focus on the present moment. The process for change involves identifying and altering negative thought patterns, belief systems and relating to others in a more positive way. 

 

It’s peoples’ thoughts about a situation that affect how they feel, not the actual situation. 

 

Now it’s your turn to reflect on your thoughts and be aware of how negative thoughts make you feel. 

 

e.g., You may start your day with the wrong mindset, catastrophising about the day ahead, visualising how bad it’s going to be, well before you even started. Notice how you feel, notice your body language, notice your behaviour. 

 

When you realise what you are doing, challenge those negative thoughts, dispute them and either re-frame them or ask what evidence do you have to support them? 

 

You are what you think and there will be countless examples of the above, so here is something for you to think about. 

 

Once you start focusing on positive thoughts, you will soon see a change in your behaviour and physiology. You won’t find it easy in the beginning, and you may stop practising for a short while and then start again. 

 

The important thing here is perseverance, and in doing so, will re-map or reprogram your mind to use positive language patterns on a daily basis.