We rely on our mind for everything — every thought, decision, opinion or idea you can conjure up is thought to come from the mind. But did you know your mind can’t always be trusted? Living inside your head is dangerous. This is where your saboteurs are triggered, and that is when your internal enemies come to light, habitual mind patterns creep in and negative self-talk takes over.
As Shirzad Chamine writes in his book, Positive Intelligence, your saboteurs manifested themselves when you were a child and shaped your outlook on the world. They were survival tools that you developed to protect and cope with physical and emotional forces and they remain into adulthood — even though you no longer need them. Your saboteurs are so ingrained in your mind that they shape all of the behaviors and thought patterns that work against you.
The incessant thoughts in your head only work to bog you down and influence your decisions negatively. But they can be controlled, and once they are, you can begin to make decisions from the heart, rather than your head, which is where all of the best decisions manifest themselves.
Here are the two steps to conquering the voices in your head:
1. Become aware.
Identifying just how you are sabotaging yourself is the first step to conquering the voices in your head because you cannot change anything that you are not aware of. How do your saboteurs manifest themselves in your head? Are you very harsh on others? Yourself? Do you worry more than you should? All of these things can influence the thoughts in your head and leave you stuck there.
2. Get out of your head, and get present.
When you learn to be present, or live in the moment, your inner voices go silent. From that point, you are operating from your heart, which is called the sage — then you are following your infinite wisdom, rather than your mind.
How are you sabotaging yourself? Find out now by taking this five-minute saboteur assessment test.
Source: Chamine, Shirzad (2012).Positive Intelligence. Greenleaf Book Group
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