How to Stop A.N.T’s

I’m back from my 8 days of NLP, Timeline Empowerment and Hypnosis training with the Empowerment Partnership and I’ll be providing more insights from this training in future posts. 

For now…

Many people have a steady and automatic flow of negative thoughts going through their minds. These negative thoughts play a key role in the negative results they achieve in their lives.

Let’s be clear here…there is really no “negative” or “positive” there is only supportive or non-supportive thoughts, but it’s easier to use the term “negative” to describe non-supportive thoughts.

 Ok…back to A.N.T;’s (automatic negative thoughts as Dr. Amen labels them)…oftentimes people don’t even realize their thoughts are so disempowering. It takes someone else to draw their attention to their negative speech, habits and patterns – a symptom of their negative thoughts. Once made aware of this type of thinking, people will ask “How is it possible to stop my negative thoughts?” The answer is simple (not easy) but it does require persistence particularly in a climate – economic and otherwise – where negative energy abounds.

Think of an intrepid explorer entering a cave. It is pitch-black, cold, dank and ominous. Initially, he strikes a match which provides a bright spark of illumination but it is quickly extinguished. He then lights the end of a stick, the end of which is covered in strips of cloth that have been soaked in fuel and lights this.

This provides greater illumination and he can see that along the walls of the cave are numerous lamps. He starts to light these lamps and as more lamps are lit the darkness within the cave is diminished. Then his companions, from whom he was momentarily separated, bring light as well and soon the cave is flooded. With light and the explorer can see that the cave is no longer a place to fear. In fact, he can now see many wonderful treasures in the cave that were hidden in the darkness.

In this analogy the light represents your positive thoughts and the darkness your negative thoughts. The more positive thoughts you introduce into your mind the less room there will be for negative thoughts. However, just as the cave would be plunged back into darkness should the lights within go out the same thing will happen to your mind. So you have to keep reinforcing the positive thoughts.

Also when you maintain a positive outlook on life you no longer view the world as a harsh place. You are more aware of the good that surrounds you. In addition you are better equipped to deal with any challenges that life throws your way.

The individuals who brought additional light into the cave can be likened to your teachers, mentors and coaches. In fact, they represent anyone with a positive energy who is supportive and helps you to develop into your best self. We all need such individuals in our lives and you too can become such an individual to another.

So to stop your negative thoughts you simply have to introduce positive thoughts. Remember the mind can only think about one thing at a time. So at any point in time you’re either thinking positive or you’re thinking negative. When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts you can use a pattern interrupt technique.

For instance, some folks like to say out loud to themselves “CANCEL!” and at times when this may not be appropriate you can empathetically say a silent “CANCEL!” to yourself. Another technique is to wear a rubber band and to snap it against your skin when you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts.

However, remember that you have to be persistent. Just as if the lamps in the cave were to be extinguished the cave would be plunged into darkness then if you stop feeding your mind positive thoughts then you’ll simply succumb to the adverse effects of your negative thoughts.

A regular diet of positive thoughts will produce the mental strength to safeguard you against all the negative thoughts and energy that exist in the world. You can’t help but be exposed to this negative energy but you can effectively shield your mind from it by building your own positive energy through positive thinking. In addition, when you cultivate positive thoughts you’ll start to vibrate on a higher frequency and you’ll start to attract like-minded individuals – individuals set on achieving success in life.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.