“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
The voice in your head creates your outer reality. It is responsible for creating both what you want and what you don’t want. If your inner speech focuses on your past struggles or failures or on what is missing in your life, then you will create more of that.
When you become more aware of your thoughts, you can see how they create your reality.
It is easy to know what you are thinking because you have a voice in your head that is always talking. It’s like a radio station that you cannot turn off because the “off” button is broken. It is saying things to you right now as you read this sentence.
It might be saying things like, “What are you talking about? I am not some crazy person who hears voices!”
News break: That’s the voice in your head. It yaps at you all day long.
You might be more aware of this voice when you’re really tired and trying to go to sleep but it won’t shut up.
It says things like, “I really need to get some sleep because I have that important presentation tomorrow. I still haven’t prepared for it. Oh, no! I forgot that I have to pick up my son from the airport tomorrow! That means I won’t have time to get ready tomorrow, so maybe I should get up now and prepare. Boy, I really need to sleep! Why am I thinking about this stuff when I’m so tired? Now I really can’t sleep. I’m going to be so tired tomorrow that I’ll probably do a terrible job. Things will be really bad if I don’t make that sale. I’ve got to get some sleep.”
After a lot of mental chatter, you end up feeling exhausted.
The voice in your head is trying to help you solve your life’s problems. The trouble is you have given it an impossible task. Your voice often speaks from your old programming, which might not help you solve a problem or see an opportunity.
Once you become more aware of what you are thinking, you can decide whether to listen to that voice or not. You will have the freedom to step back from your thoughts and realize that they do not control you.
When you become aware of the voice in your head, you’ll realize that negative thoughts, memories or images cloud your perception of events and circumstances; they cause you to see only problems instead of opportunities; they keep you stuck where you are.
How do you know if your inner voice is helping you or hurting you?
You know from the conversation in your head whether your thoughts are helping you grow or whether your old ways of thinking are helping you stay stuck. You will now by how you feel.
Feelings give you a clue to the thoughts you are thinking, and, therefore, the results you are creating.
If your feelings are of lack and scarcity, then that is your old conditioning. If you feel small and inadequate, then you can be sure that your inner voice is beating you up with past mistakes or thoughts that you most likely learned from other people. If you feel doubt and fear, then you are focusing on old, limiting thinking.
As adults, we think that focusing intently on our problems is the only way to get results. When we are stuck in these frantic brain frequencies, however, we are usually obsessing about problems instead of becoming aware of solutions. Very little new information can get in because of our narrow focus.
You will know when you’re in that anxious state when you’re constantly analyzing–experiencing “paralysis by analysis.” You feel like you can’t stop working; you can’t even take a deep breath.
You will feel relief when you let go of some of this chatter so you can access your subconscious mind as well as your conscious mind.
After all, your subconscious mind is an amazing supercomputer in touch with way more information than is available to your conscious mind.
New creative possibilities can emerge from your subconscious when you stop spinning on the same tracks you usually circle on.
How do you think and feel when you are leaning toward growth?
You think about where you are going, not where you are right now. You ignore present reality as you focus on what you are creating. You feel hopeful, expansive and powerful. You choose belief over doubt.
As you develop more positive success programming, your brain releases more of the feel good chemicals that help you cope with stress. You actually get “smarter” as you relax into a more positive state.
As Dr. Joe Dispenza explains in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself:
“Your awareness shifts from narrow-minded, overfocused, obsessive, compartmentalized, survival thinking to thoughts that are more open, relaxed, holistic, present, orderly, creative, and simple. This is the natural state of being we are supposed to live by.”
The pull of your old conditioning and your old way of thinking is strong. Limiting thoughts will try to trap you with the logic of staying where you are rather than risking the discomfort of trying something new. They will especially give you grief when you decide to step into new territory and act on what you really want.
Recognize that beliefs are just thoughts that your brain is programmed to think. Becoming aware of your thoughts and feelings is the first step in creating new, success programming.
