Intentional Thought Creation

Intentional Thought Creation

Today we are continuing the work we started a few weeks ago. Once we have our Thought Audit (from Sept 2nd) and we do the Evaluation and Review (from Sept 9), we are now ready to work on Intentional Thought Creation. You can access these previous posts in the left sidebar.

Before we get into the process of intentional thought creation, there are a couple of steps I want to review first. First of all, after we find the Thoughts and Feelings from the first two steps, we need to expand this to also identify what we do when we feel this way, the actions we are taking when we feel this way, and the results these are causing. This shows us the whole picture and demonstrates how our thoughts create out results. We want to fully understand the impact of our thoughts, and seeing this through each of the 4 components is the full picture.

The second thing is that once we have the full picture, we need to just understand, accept, and allow what we revealed. This is a critical step, so that we don't have resistance and avoidance interfering with our new thought creation. We notice the feeling without the resistance and stop reacting and just feel the emotion. The worst that can happen when we reveal this full picture is the emotion we're feeling. And feeling an emotion is simply experiencing a sensation in our body. It's okay. We can handle it. The awareness and understanding of these steps is what empowers us to feel like we are in control of our lives, because we are. 

After we have dropped any resistance to where we are now, we can move on to Intentional Thought Creation. 

If you ever feel like you don't have control over your thoughts, it's because you are missing the awareness of what you are thinking. When you start eavesdropping on your mind, you realize you are NOT your mind. You are in control of your thoughts. 

If you don't tell your brain what to focus on, it will go back to programmed thinking from your past. It will just reuse what it already knows. It loves to be efficient and conserve energy, so it will go back and use what it has. 

How do we create new thoughts?

The new thought has to be believable AND it has to feel good. Sometimes we think it's a good thought, but we don't believe it. And sometimes it's a good thought, but it doesn't feel good to us. It has to do both. 

We can start by flipping the original thought to the opposite. This might be a very large leap, so be careful if that's the case. It can be used as a bookend to measure other thoughts against, which can be very useful. 

You can, of course, just come up with new thought ideas. Brainstorm or imagine new thoughts, how would they make you feel, how believable are they? 

You can also start with your existing thought and consider some modifiers. Here are some really good ones...

Add to the front of the thought:   

I might be wrong about...

I'm just thinking the thought...

This one is great, because it validates that we are just thinking the thought and that doesn't make it true. It keeps the watcher in focus. 

Add to the end of the thought...

... And that's okay.

Sometimes we just need to tell ourselves that the thought we are thinking is just okay. It's not a problem. This lightens the grip on the thought. 

All of these wiggle the gridlock on our thoughts. Allowing for some alternative ideas. This shift might be very small, but it can be felt in a big way. 

Some other modifier ideas when you are considering a new and maybe too big of a leap thought...

Add to the front of the thought...

I'm open to the idea...

It's possible that...

I will someday...

These are great to wiggle loose some possibility in a new thought that might be a stretch today. It allows for some optimism and opportunity. 

After you have chosen your new thought, now you have to be intentional with thinking this thought and practice it often. This can mean adding it to your daily journal practice. Putting sticky notes with the thought by your bed or on your mirror. Whatever trick works best for you, but you want to set the intention to think this new thought intentionally. 

When we do not direct our brain, it will revert to the old thinking. This is what's easy and familiar. It's all our brain knows. This means that this work is not just thinking the new thought once. We have to practice it until it becomes the new programming. 

I'll leave you with one last fun idea I just heard today... You can use your imagination for anxiety OR creativity. Both are made up ideas. One creates a negative feeling and one creates a positive feeling. The choice is yours!