A New Year’s Dialogue

Stuff happens because we act. (Easy.)

Different actions cause different stuff to happen. (Also easy.)

Our thoughts (which we may notice variously as our ideas, beliefs, values, moods, emotions, perspectives, or attitudes) determine which actions we choose. (Makes sense.)

Other people react to our thoughts and affect our results, too, even if we haven’t verbalized those thoughts. (Really?)

Most of our thoughts are chatter that happens habitually. (Huh.)

And up to 70% of  our chatter is negative in tone. (Dang.)

We can tell when our thoughts are negative because they feel bad when we think them. (Hmm. And?)

We can deliberately catch our chatter and replace it with thoughts that help us select better actions. (Oh, good.)

Deliberate thinking is tough to sustain because it takes more energy that habitual thought and it drains our willpower. (Oh, no.)

We can use just a bit of willpower to set up a simple, 5-minute, daily better-thinking routine. (Such as?)

Examples include writing lists of things we appreciate, meditating, visualizing how well our day is going to go, or many of the other buzz raising tools. (Hmm, easy-ish.)

And we can enjoy better results this year from better thinking with just a bit of willpower as our routine becomes a habit. (But can I do it?)

If anyone can, it’s you. (I like hearing that.)

 

In your corner,

Mike

 

Today’s photo credit: Alexey Kljatov (ChaoticMind75) Snowflake collage: mirror’s edge via photopin (license)

Leave a Reply