Listen. Do you hear that? Do you hear that voice inside your head holding you back, telling you why you will fail and why you don’t have what it takes? Steven Pressfield calls this Resistance. You aren’t in this alone. As it turns out, we all hear voices. Most of the time our inner thoughts simmer in and out of our awareness throughout the day like a spotty radio station.
Our thoughts often narrate our experience of the life going on around us through the lens we use to see the world. Sometimes our thoughts critique, offer encouragement or provide color commentary for the events we encounter moment-to-moment. Astonishingly, some research puts the number of thoughts we have in a given day in the tens of thousands. Impressive. Exhausting. However, for most people, 70% of our thoughts are counterproductive or neutral. Wow! No wonder we struggle to stay focused, move forward and achieve our goals.
To be honest, sometimes my thoughts can get the better of me. This especially happens when I try to do something that matters. Maybe this happens to you too. My thoughts shoot down my dreams, fill my head with doubts or worries or snip quick jabs about how I’m not good enough. But, I’ve learned that I can fight back; throw some punches back at those counterproductive thoughts.
I’ve learned that we can retrain our brain and be more productive in our thinking. Here are 3 steps you can take toward retraining your brain.
Step #1: Identify the counterproductive thought
Imagine for a moment that you’re about to give a speech (rated a higher fear than death by many) to a small group of professionals who are intelligent and, luckily, kind. In that moment, ask yourself, “What’s going through my mind right now?” You may be thinking…”They won’t care about what I have to say,” “I’m going to forget my key points,” or “What will I do for lunch today?”. Notice how each impacts your (a) emotions, (b) physiology and (c) ability to focus on your objective. None of these examples are setting you up for success. If you don’t like the impact of your thoughts, they are likely counterproductive. Learning to identify the counterproductive thought is step #1.
Step #2: Interrupt the the counterproductive thought
Shout the word “STOP!” Then, imagine a large, bright red STOP sign in front of you, 10 feet away and flying right at you at top speed. Imagine reaching out to stop that sign with your hand in front of you. This interrupts the counterproductive thought and puts you in an offensive position. Lastly, take a slow, deep breath down into your gut and let it out slowly. This activates an opposite physiological response than the stress of a counterproductive thought, your parasympathetic nervous system. Rather than working you up into a stressed out mess, this recalibrates your mind and body, allowing you to be more adaptive in your thinking, putting you back in control.
Step #3: Insert a more productive thought
This is where we get back on track, build our confidence and prepare to succeed. Recall your goal, objective, hard work and preparation, or even past successes. In the example of giving a speech, you may insert a more productive thought such as, “Relax. I know what I’m talking about because I’ve studied the information and reviewed it with my team.” Or, for the sake of argument, let’s say that you know you didn’t prepare as much as you would have liked. You could insert, “Sure I could have prepared more, but the reality is I can focus on what I know and it’s okay if I can’t answer every question. I’ll find the answer afterwards.”
Zig Zigler said, “The most influential person you talk to all day is yourself.” What kind of influence are you? What’s more is that by repeating these 3 I’s (Identify, Interrupt, Insert) each time you notice a counterproductive thought, you’ll be retraining your brain to think more productively. Soon your thoughts will be your best positive influence rather than your own worst enemy. When it’s go time, the big question is, are your thoughts working for you or against you? If they’re working for you, encouraging, focusing, goal-directed thoughts, great! Keep ’em coming! But, if not, give these 3 I’s a try and retrain your inner Resistance.
Question: In what areas of your life do counterproductive thoughts hold you back? What strategies do you use to fight back? I invite you to leave a comment below.
Links: (posts, books, links, etc.)
- Book: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Post: Read more about when Resistance rears its head in 11 Situations That Elicit Resistance by Michael Hyatt
Please note: I encourage reader discussion, however, I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.