Your Thoughts are More Powerful than You Think

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You Don’t Know What You’re Thinking

We have so many thoughts going through our heads at any given moment, that it’s hard to keep up with them.

But your brain is on top of it. In fact, your thoughts are more powerful than you think.Woman, OK sign

And here’s the scary but really important part: those random thoughts you have, the ones you think don’t matter, can be some of the most powerful.

In fact, they can influence your body’s response to things, even when it goes against what you intend to do.

Are you really in charge of your own body?

Sneaky Science

Way back in 1986, Dr. Shad Helmstetter wrote a book called, “What to Say When You Talk to Yourself”. You can find a shortened pdf version in the Resource Library or look for it online.

Basically what Dr. Helmstetter’s book says is that you have two distinct parts of your brain:

  1. Your conscious mind is what you think of as your mind, or your brain. It houses your thoughts and is the part of your brain that’s working now as you read this.
  2. Your subconscious mind, on the other hand, is more primitive, and is responsible for such things as keeping your body running and keeping it safe. If you go on a diet to lose weight, and cut too many calories, your subconscious mind perceives that as starvation and starts storing fat as protection.

Your subconscious wants you to be in balance, to do things as you have always done them. Any change to that routine will make you feel emotionally and physically uncomfortable, probably long before you actually notice it.

New Habits

Your subconscious mind wants things to be as they have always been; it dislikes and works against change.

This is bad news for those of us with ADHD, because any attempt at changing our habits to new and better ones will be met with resistance.

This is part of the reason that they say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you have ADHD, I would extend that to 28 days. (That’s just my personal opinion.)

You can, of course, overcome the power of the subconscious.

Just the fact that you are aware of it now puts you in a better position to outsmart it.

When you attempt to create a new habit or behavior, and you start feeling uncomfortable, even fearful, remember that the primitive part of your brain is trying to keep things just the way they’ve always been.

Once you realize that, you’ll find it easier to replace those fearful thoughts with new, more positive ones.

Positive Thinking

The power of positive thinking can go a long way in helping you develop new habits and overcome that sneaky subconscious.

Every time you catch yourself feeling uneasy or unsure about something you’re trying to change, turn that thought around and replace it with something more positive.

Downloading an app with positive affirmations might be a good idea, or maybe you’re good at making up your own.

Here is a list of over 1,000 that will get you started.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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