WOMEN: Is Negative Thinking Holding You Back?

This year, more than many, seems to be calling for inspiration, renewal, and tapping into the value of optimism we need to shape a new future for ourselves, our families, and the world around us. I share this story:

Some years ago, I met a man at a leadership conference. It was one of those wonderful meetings destine to take place, where someone shows up unexpectedly to shine a little Light on your path and is never seen again. One of the gifts he left behind was inspiring me to read Around the Year with Emmet Fox, spiritual teacher and writer of the 20th Century.  He mentioned he read it daily for many years.

So, I bought the book and a decade later, tattered and torn, I still find its offerings come at just the right moment. I've shared it with many friends, who have had the same experience---and I've referred to this cherished book many times in my writing. I wanted to share one of his readings that has always been helpful as I've looked to the future in a new year --- a kind of self-assessment.

Emmet Fox speaks to us this time of year about renewal and also reaches out to help you discover or re-discover MOMENTS of TRUTH about yourself that may be holding you back. One is negative thinking. He writes...

"Your destiny depends entirely upon your own mental conduct. You may think that you know this already, but if you do not act upon it, it is certain that you do not really know it. Most people would be amazed to discover how much negative thinking they indulge in. Thought is so swift and habit is so strong that unless you are very careful you will constantly transgress.

Suppose that you had an invisible recorder on your shoulder tomorrow morning. At the end of the day, suppose that this record were played over to you so that every word you uttered for a whole day was repeated to you. Well, if you are like the average human being you would probably be embarrassed. Yet it really does happen that everything we say and think and do is recorded ---- in the subconscious mind---and our daily experience is simply that record being played over and over to us. Never forget that the circumstances of your life tomorrow are molded by your mental conduct of today."  --- Emmet Fox

Try wearing that invisible recorder for a day or two. It really helps you eliminate that negative self-talk that most of us do unconsciously at least a little bit --- the negative self-talk that just might be holding you back from making your most meaningful contributions in work and life.

Retraining your thinking...
What we THINK, DO, and SAY does matter. One symbol that has helped me keep this TRUTH in my focus came from a gift. Years ago, my mentoring partners presented me with a rock with YES! engraved on it. It sits on my desk. It has helped me PRACTICE the idea that the answers to most questions for me is YES!

Warm wishes to you...
Debbe

 

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the Lead
Author, Putting Our Differences to Work

Comments

[Lucy McBees]

Hi Debbe Kennedy,
I entirely agree with you. Negative thoughts chip away at your self-esteem leaving you feeling vulnerable, powerless, and susceptible to yet more negative thinking. This spiral of decline can leave many women feeling stressed, anxious, trapped, hopeless and miserable. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you're thinking negatively about yourself, your life, or just about everything - then you've come to the right place to find ways to silence that chatterbox once and for all!

Thank you Cheers Lucy