Reprogram negative self-talk

“Remember, the subconscious mind is our servant and will work fervently to do what we program it to do. Faithfully using the power tools of positive self-talk, visualization and affirmations will provide the subconscious mind with verbal and visual instruction on the kind of person you want to become.”
Curt Boudreaux: The ABC’s of Self-Esteem

Nothing can sap your belief in yourself or in your dreams more quickly and thoroughly than your own negative self-talk. In his book The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the New Millennium, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi showed that for a variety of evolutionary reasons, the human mind automatically gravitates toward negative, frightening, and depressing thoughts. It is your challenge to confront these self-inhibiting notions before they interfere with your pursuit of your future vision. Here is a seven step process for using The Janitor in Your Attic to confront negative self-talk and transforming it into positive affirmations.

Catalog: Pay attention to all of the negative self-talk going through your mind. Hint: it will almost always be in the second person (you’ll hear “You are an idiot” but never “I am an idiot”). Chances are, you allow your own inner critic to speak to you in abusive ways that you would never tolerate from anyone else. Every time your Inner Critic verbally abuses you, make a note of what is being said. You might end up with pages full of such notes, but it’s an essential starting point for neutralizing what can in many cases be Your Own Worst Enemy – the little vandal who paints that attic of your mind with mental graffiti.

Identify: Negative self-talk is usually a voice from the distant past that has metastasized into something far more critical than was the original intention of the speaker. For example, I once had a teacher tell me that I’d “never amount to a hill of beans.” He was trying to get me motivated to complete an overdue homework assignment, but that accusation comes back to me every time I set out upon a new venture, every time I face rejection or failure, sometimes even before I get out of bed in the morning. Being able to identify its origin goes a long way toward helping me appreciate that it is not truth, it is mental graffiti.

Pay Attention: Having made a catalog of your negative self-talk, and identified the source for at least some of it, now pay attention. It is important that these inner lies be confronted immediately, before they can take root. By paying attention to your inner soundscape, you can catch negative self-talk before it effects your attitudes and actions.

Relabel: One reason negative self-talk can be so destructive is that we believe at some level of consciousness it is telling us the truth. Offset this pernicious influence by relabeling negative self-talk for what it really is – graffiti being spray-painted on the walls of your mind. In my seminars, I actually encourage people to paint a mental picture of the little graffiti vandal, and to give it a name.

Erase: Once they’ve given a name to the vandal up there in the attic of their minds, I have seminar participants create a mental picture of The Janitor in Their Attic, and give him or her a name (my Janitor’s name is Spike). Every time the little vandal paints graffiti up on the walls of “the attic,” they visualize “the janitor” coming along with a utility cart and painting it out.

Replace: Whatever the graffiti of negative self-talk that has been painted over (“You are such a loser”), then gets replaced with an attractive sign stating the exact opposite, along with a positive affirmation (“I’m a winner, and I keep on chugging when the going gets tough”). Notice that the graffiti was in the second person, while the affirmation is in the first person. That’s the difference between an ancient lie and a truth of today.

Repeat: It takes repetition to override harmful old mental circuits and replace them with positive new ones – what he called “survival of the busiest.” Likewise, overruling negative self-talk takes repetition over a period of time. But neuroscientists have shown that by reprogramming your thinking you can actually have a physiological impact on the workings of your brain. You can make positive thinking your natural mental state by reprogramming the software, which in turn will transform the hardware.

Program Yourself with The Janitor in Your Attic™

Download the two Janitor in Your Attic audio programs “Morning Motivation” and “Evening Meditation” (each about 25 minutes). Load them onto your iPod or other device and set the morning program to start playing 25 minutes before you need to get out of bed and start the evening program just as you get into bed for the night. Here is the link for both audio programs: http://www.valuescoachinc.com/audio .