All of us talk to ourselves, mostly privately and in our heads.
Some communicate out loud privately, others shout on the streets drawing strange looks from passers by.
We are all telling ourselves a story, and that story could be anything from:
- Who you are
- What you do
- How you dress
- How you speak
- What you eat
- Where you live
We build this story of ourselves unconsciously, it could be from our upbringing or influence of our peers but it is there, like an operating system that runs and governs our behaviors.
But as William James, the Father of American psychology, proclaimed:
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.
Which means if there is part of your story that you don’t like, your finances, your job, your body or even who you are, YOU CAN CHANGE IT.
How? I hear you ask. Well I’m glad you asked, it only requires three things:
Faith, Expectancy & Repeated Action.
Faith
The word faith has been somewhat tarnished due to it’s connections to the various religons of the world but nothing is more powerful that faith.
Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something, which should be for the purposes of this article, the story you wish for yourself to have.
Write out what you want your life to look like. Write it in the present tense and begin with ‘I am so happy and grateful now that…’ and list out all the things you wish.
Read it aloud to yourself twice daily and when you feel yourself getting buffeted by the vicissitudes of life.
Faith is your north star, faith keeps you in the fight, faith will overcome any obstacle.
Most people are regularly using the opposite of faith which is fear, don’t concern yourself with what you fear, focus on what you want.
Expectancy
With your new story written out, you must now act, talk and walk as though it is a sure thing.
You will no doubt clash with your previous story but combine expectations with faith and surely as the night turns to day, it will dawn.
Earl Nightingale had this to say of expectations which i have pinned on my wall to ready every day:
Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.
You see if you are expectant of the life you wish to lead, you are most likely going to be in good spirits. This attitude is critical to your success as a healthy, expectant attitude will radiate outwards into the world and bring you people and circumstances to achieve what is that you have for your life.
Repeated Action
Nothing came from thinking positive and not doing anything about it.
Stories change when we change. When we eat better, when we say no, when we go to the gym or decide that’s it, I’ll never do X again.
You begin to see yourself as a different person, slowly but surely, that old story starts to be replaced with a brighter more empowering one. It may take time if you’ve been telling yourself over and over again but know that you can change you life, simply by changing your story.
Check out the video here:
https://youtu.be/B5TnwLVC5eY
If you want help taking steps to change your life, please reach out for a free coaching session with myself https://calendly.com/alexhollandcoach