Photo by Heather Dodge Photography

When I was growing up, long before Pandora or iTunes, there was one pop station in my town.  You listened to this station, you waited for your favorite songs, you sat through commercials, you picked your favorite DJs. 

Every summer, there would be THE song.  The song that in June, you loved, in July, you were getting a little bored with, and by August you were so sick of it, you had to go underwater for 2.5 minutes while hanging at the pool with your pals. 

To this day, when Love Shack by the B-52s comes on, I want to plug my ears, la, la, la, I’m not listening style.  

When something replays over and over again, our brains just get sick of it.  So, why do we have negative thought patterns on a loop in our brains? 

Why are we way past the August go underwater point, yet continue to run the exact same thought through our heads?  Why are we not so sick of it that we turn it off? 

Guess what, the head lifeguard is not in charge of that radio.  You can walk over and turn that song off.  You do not have to hear “TIN ROOF RUSTED” one more time.  

I know I’m not alone in this.  The fact of the matter is, these patterns are hard to break and it takes some work to send them on their way. 

After all, we’ve been doing this to ourselves for a very long time.  But, we can do this.  

How to Ditch the Negative Self Talk

1. Recognize that it’s happening.  Think back to August.....you hear those first few notes and immediately know the song.  The same goes for your negative thought patterns.  Pay attention...hear it, move on to step 2.
2. Check your emotions.  How does this thought make you feel?  Chances are, not good.  Is there a negative emotion attached to this thought, ie.  shame, guilt, fear, worry?  Allow that feeling to be there, sit with it for a minute or 2, then decide, do I like this feeling?  Is this helping me in any way?  Would I like to feel differently? 
3. Take some deep breaths, breathing in the way you would like to feel.  Acknowledge that negative thought, thank it for serving you at some point in your life, then let it know that it is no longer serving you and kindly show it the door.  
4. You will hear these thoughts again, just like hearing Love Shack when you’re at the grocery store as an adult.  They will hit you out of nowhere, but this time, you won’t just let it replay for hours on end.  This time, you will repeat steps 1-3 & the negative patterns will be on their way.

You Are in Charge of Your Mindset

You are in charge of your mindset.  You are in control of your happiness.  It’s ok to change the channel on thoughts that do not serve you.  A peaceful mind is something that you deserve and I want you to spend as much time there as possible.