In brain science it is taught not to use the word “don’t” because the mind does not accept the word, and instead whatever follows is exactly what you end up doing. As an example if you say, “Don’t forget” inevitably you will “forget”. I recommend, and strive to correct myself, to always say, “Remember to do XYZ”.
Now here comes an exception I really like. Life coach Marsha Lehman suggests you write a few “Don’t Lists” each day and check them off each time you stop yourself from doing one of the items. One list I like is the “Not to Think and Not to Articulate” list. Make a list of all the negative thoughts you usually have – and unfortunately you and I generally think the same reoccurring negative thoughts (known as ruination in psychology) all the time. Then as you go through your day and you notice one of those negative thoughts popping up, stop, check it off your list, and continue.
This technique is a version of cognitive therapy as I understand it. You actively stop a thought by changing your activity from thinking to writing a check mark. Once you have stopped the thought process and taken a physical action, you have a greater chance of shifting your focus away from that thought – at least for a while.
That is why a life well lived is best viewed as a journey, not a destination. That is why the road to life success is so crooked!
Happy check marking. Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, Phd
Dr. Success™
1 866 975 3777
Facebook
Twitter
Write me direct
