Category: Success
What are you saying to yourself throughout the day? We all have a little conversation going on in our head, some call it 'monkey chatter', do you ever pay attention to yours? Are you ever aware of what this constant chatter is? It's what you say to yourself that you think you are not always aware of . . . but you actually hear all of it. Some of this self-talk is very destructive, and some say that if you talked to the people in your life this way, they wouldn't be! We can be very negative and brutal to ourselves in our self-talk which is very damaging and limiting.
Did you know that what you say to yourself has more impact on your life than anything else. Your mind tends to believe what your mind is saying. I know this sounds a little odd, let me explain. There are different parts of your mind with different functions. Your conscious mind, the part that you notice and that you usually use when 'thinking', actually is in command. However, your unconscious mind, the part which directs all the automatic functions, generally appears to be in control. It is to a great degree but only because you, your conscious mind, has allowed it to be.
Yes, your unconscious mind operates your body without your needing conscious input on a regular basis, it has been programmed to do this. Also, though, the unconscious mind helps you to perform many other automatic functions related to how you react to things, your perceptions and your beliefs. The interesting thing is that you have actually told your unconscious mind what to do in regards to your thoughts, feelings and emotions. Most of which you will not even be aware you have done, or that you are now doing, every day.
Here's what is going on day in and day out in your mind. You are telling your unconscious mind what you want, and you are doing this with your every thought. So, your unconscious mind, taking the commands of your conscious mind as it is designed to do, responds to your conscious thoughts. When you think something, anything and everything, your unconscious says, 'OK, so this is what you want, alright, I'll help you with that.'
Part of your unconscious mind's job is to help you get, have, be, feel whatever you say you want, in the most efficient way it can. It supports you by doing so in the most automatic way possible so you won't have to consciously think it through, just like it handles the operation of your heart. So your every thought is actually a command to your automatic support system, "this is what I want." Yes, I said EVERY thought!
Getting back to the opening sentence above, what thoughts are passing through your conscious mind are of critical importance, for they are all commands to your unconscious mind. You cannot choose to have some thoughts be commands and others not, they all are . . . all the time, always! You can, however choose your thoughts. This is important to get this distinction. All thoughts are always commands and you cannot alter that operational function. But you can choose what to think.
This is your ultimate power as a human being, command of your thoughts. You may think that all that chatter going on in your head all day long is automatic and that you have no control of it, but this is not the case. You actually have the ability to guide and direct this thought, to think what you want when you want. In several spiritual teachings the term 'observer' is used in relation to your ability to watch yourself. Rather than just being in the middle of what you are thinking and doing, you are watching what you are thinking and doing while you are doing it. You are observing yourself, being yourself.
You can actually observe yourself just like you would someone else. Have you ever noticed that you can sometimes see clearly how someone else has been causing their own problems with their thoughts or action, but they can't? This is because they are in the middle of it all and you are just the observer. Well, you can do this with yourself, you can play both roles actually. It's when you begin to see yourself do what you do and think what you think that you can actually see what you are doing.
This is when you can then decide if what you see is really what you want to be thinking and doing. You will be able to see which thoughts are not sending the kind of messages you really want your unconscious mind to be acting on and which ones are. Then, you are able to make conscious choices about the thoughts you allow to be prominent in your daily thinking.
As you choose to pay attention to your conscious thinking, you will notice that you can catch yourself with undesirable thoughts earlier and earlier in the thought process. At first you will notice that you have been thinking something, then that you are thinking it, then that you are starting to think it and finally be able to change them before they even begin. Then ultimately you will be changing your thought habits altogether, having decided what kinds of thinking supports the life you want to be yours. Will you look at the glass as being half empty or half full? Will you see the good or more notice the bad? Will you generally love and accept people or will you hold disdain and distrust? Will you see life as a continuous growth process or a struggle. Will you be responsible for your self or blame outside sources? Will you constantly complain or be curious and joyful?
So the answer to the title question is, no, you don't need to allow whatever your mind chatter wants to throw out there to be. You can choose the kind of thinking that makes up your moment to moment thoughts. Whatever you choose, or have already chosen, your unconscious mind is right now helping you to fulfill . . .with all it's power! Whether you like it or not, you are right now living proof of this. I'm not saying it's always easy to see how your thinking is effecting your everyday life, but it is. Learning to observe and take command of your daily thought is a start which can help you advance your self awareness and improve your life greatly. From this point, you will open more doors to yourself and your abilities than you had probably considered possible.
Now there is another level of influence your conscious thought has which I have not addressed here, and that's how it affects you at a deeper spiritual level, which it does. For now, just know that your thinking effects you at deeper levels very similar to how it does your unconscious mind. So, the importance of taking command of your thinking is your ultimate power because it affects your entire being, thus your actual physical life experience.
Take charge of your life, take command of your thinking - even the seemingly mindless chatter matters!
John Halderman writes about effective self improvement methods, more specifically how you can bridge the gap between information and creating effective results. To learn more about what you just read here and to discover how this can help you change your life, follow this link Effective Personal Development Blog
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