Do you workout? Most people think of a physical exercise when I ask them that question. You know, like a treadmill, or weights or stair-master or anything physical, right? That’s normal to think of a physical workout.
What I’m talking about here is a mental workout. A mental workout on a disciplined, daily routine that will do wonders for every aspect of your life. Why? To overcome the natural negative thoughts that we all experience on a daily basis. Especially when things are not going so well.
You know what I mean. For example, if your business is not going so well, the thoughts come rushing in. “There is absolutely no way I’m gonna make it”, or “I can’t keep dumping money in this online thing”, or “My wife is gonna kill me if this business fails”. You get the picture, right?
You see our minds are conditioned by your surroundings to focus and amplify the negative. After all, you live in a negative world. It starts from the time we were infants. What’s the first word every infant hears? “NO”, or “Don’t touch that,” or “Don’t put that in your mouth”, etc. It doesn’t get any more plain and negative than that. I despise that word NO.
Furthermore, what did we all hear growing up from your parents? “Don’t you go get in any trouble,” or “Don’t be messing around with the wrong people,” or “Don’t be late for school,” or “Don’t do this or don’t do that.” Wow, what a negative world, huh.
If you are starting a new business, whether online or offline, you have to overcome all the naysayers and negative thoughts that come flooding in. This takes practice.
The first thing you have to do is be aware of the negative thoughts as they come flowing in. If you are embarking on an unknown journey in your business, believe me when I say that those negative thoughts will come. When you become aware of those thoughts, you can now deal with them as they arise.
The second thing you have to do when you become aware of the negative thought is to immediately cancel that thought. When you cancel the thought it can’t take root in your subconscious mind. You cancel the thought be re-directing your mind. For example, “There is no way I can pay this monthly bill.” Try re-directing that thought to this, “When I sell 3 units, this will take care of this monthly bill”. You get the picture.
When you cancel this thought, then anchor the cancelling of the thought with a physical act, such as clenching your fist when you say ‘cancel’, this technique works wonders on the subconscious mind. This technique is a form of NLP or neurolinguistic programming that has great affect on the subconscious mind.
I’m by no means a subconscious mind expert, but I learned this technique from Jim Lutes, Quanta co-founder, who is such an expert.
The third thing you have to do when the negative thoughts arises simply to believe in yourself. Believing in yourself when all the world around you expects you to fail is an art. When you believe in yourself, you may not succeed initially, but that is not a failure. You simply find a new method and continue to move forward. How many times did Edison change his method until the lightbulb came on?
As Jim Lutes also taught me, whatever you focus on is what you will create. So I ask you, “Are you focused on your failure, or are you focused on your ultimate outcome? After all, no one else is responsible for your mental thoughts.
