3 Myths of the mind that sabotage even the most motivated achievers

3 Myths about the mind

that Sabotage even the most motivated achievers

by  Douglas Vermeeren

Myth of the mind #1

Negative thinking cannot be changed

It has been estimated that the human mind creates more than 70,000 thoughts every day. It has been estimated that more than 85% of those thoughts are negative. Negative thinking is defined as any kind of thinking that does not contribute, edify or build the person with those thoughts. It should be the goal of every person to seek out thoughts that will allow them to become the best that they can become and reach their fullest potential.

The challenge with directing your thinking patterns is that it is easier to talk about thought patterns than it is to create them. If we have been engaged in habitual negative thinking, positive thoughts will not always come naturally or easily.

Our thoughts are a critical factor for us to create successful outcomes. No matter whether our thinking is positive or negative our reality is shaped by what we think.

Long term participation in certain thinking narrows our view of what is possible. This is true in both positive and negative thinkers. The more you train your brain to think in positive ways the more you will expect, act on and create empowering outcomes. A person dwells on negative thinking and becomes more depressed, bitter, unhappy and frustrated.  This can lead in extreme cases to clinical depression and suicidal behaviors.

In most cases, thinking isn’t entirely positive or negative. Thinking is on a continuum with all thoughts having a different value of either positive or negative. Perhaps a better way to describe these thoughts would be ‘contributing’ thoughts or ‘non-productive’ thoughts. Each has a different value in terms of what they will empower or limit in your life. Nothing in thought processes is ever black and white, everything is varying degrees of grey.

All thinking patterns can be changed. Even the negative ones.  As your thinking is given deliberate leadership you can direct it to predetermined and desired patterns of thinking. With a change of thinking your external results will also change. Positive and productive thinking will inevitably lead to positive and productive results.

How do we conduct effect leadership of our thoughts?

For change in thought to be lasting there is a process that you must follow. The process we share in the Neuroscience of Success seminar requires an awareness of your thoughts, an awareness of the process required to change and a commitment to change.  Once the process is understood your thinking will change and you can then be, do have and feel greater success than your current thinking will allow. Go to www.HowThoughtsBecomeThings.com for more information on changing your thoughts today.

Myth of the mind #2

Our filters of how we see things come from the past

A filter is the way we see the world based on our values, beliefs and expectations.

How do these filters affect our thinking?  If you were to ask the average person about their thinking patterns, you generally wind up with a series of answers like this: ‘My thoughts and beliefs come from the way I was brought up,’ ‘My thinking is the result of what I have experienced in the past.’  Sometimes they have even stated it as part of their identity and attached it to genetics, ‘I am this way because of my father,’ or ‘I am a red head, we have bad tempers.’ You may have also heard thinking attached to culture or ethnicity, ‘I am french and we are gentle and good lovers.’ These are are all elements that have to do with the past or a context the individual is attached to in some way.

The moment ‘now’ is also part of your past. Technically what you are currently experiencing is part of the your past. How can that be? You may ask. I am in the middle of this right now?  Think about it. The second you have had an interaction with an experience your interpretation of it becomes a part of your past. The moment we call now is always becoming part of your past.

Are all filters for our thinking based in the past? No. In fact, the most important filter you use is filter is the future. Your future thinking is like a magnet pulling your thoughts in the direction you believe to be most beneficial for you. It is estimated that most people spend an average of 80% of their effort thinking about future events. Unfortunately, most are combining them with their filters of the past and getting negative results.

When we become aware of our filters the picture suddenly becomes more clear and it is easier to perform productive thinking. In the Neuroscience of Success events we teach an interesting process about the 5 ways your brain learns information. This is a great tool to direct your most productive thinking through the filtering process so that you can make it a reality. For more information on cleaning your filters go to www.HowThoughtsBecomeThings.com

Myth of the mind #3

The brain stops developing after a certain age

Wanda is in her mid-forties. She went to college, but due to some challenging situations that occurred in her life she had to drop out and never finished. She went on to have a successful life as a mother and raised two really great kids. They are now getting ready to head off to college and this has Wanda thinking about the opportunity she never had to finish.

Being aware of her feelings Wanda’s kids have challenged her to return to school as a mature student. Her initial transcripts from the first time around were great and the college is also eager to accept her back.  But inside Wanda doubts if she can learn like the younger students. She is worried she is just simply too old to try and jump back in.

Earlier generations of brain experts would have told her that once you left childhood and youth your brain becomes somewhat static and unchanging. They would have said that learning becomes much more difficult, if not impossible for adults. Studies have now found the opposite to be the reality.

The majority of people still believe these old notions of the older you get the slower and more difficult your thinking and learning abilities become. These same people often reenforce these beliefs with the  following descriptions, “That’s just how I am,” or “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” or “I wish I was younger, then I could do it.”

This idea is false and comes from inaccurate conditioning in our society.

Modern studies have shown even seniors still have the capacity to reshape their thinking and effect physical changes on their brain. Your brain is continuously changing according to the leadership that you give it. This scientific name for this principle is called Neuroplasticity.

There is no limit to what and when you can learn. For more strategies on learning strategies that work go to: www.HowThoughtsBecomeThings.com

Douglas Vermeeren is the director of the SUCCEED Research Center which is dedicated to sharing research on the systems that top achievers use to create lasting success. Over the last decade Vermeeren has interviewed more than 400 of the world’s top achievers, including business leaders, celebrities and professional or Olympic athletes. He is the producer of the film How Thoughts Become Things.  For more information go to www.TheGoalSettingCoach.com or www.HowThoughtsBecomeThings.com

 

How Thoughts Become Things