Human beings are blessed with the power to observe their own thoughts and actions. I hate to generalise but I can confidently say most people do not know how to use this power. To know our mind and to understand our motivation mechanism requires a lot of time and honest self-reflection. Let me share a five-step formula I found very handy in motivating myself.
List down your five biggest problems: Write down your five biggest problems on a piece of paper and dedicate a page to each problem. What you cannot write down and articulate is not really a problem. If you think you have more than five, then feel free to write them too. You will realise that you have less problems than you actually thought and a lot of stupid thoughts will vanish.
Know the internal communication loop: Now notice how you talk to yourself when you think about these problems. Most of the times, for every problem, we have a few narratives, stories or repetitive communication loops that run in our head the basic content of which is why you are helpless and why the problem prevails. Once this story is formed, we keep on repeating it to ourselves every time.
Break the trigger of negative loop: If you want to win and are tired of your helplessness, do yourself a favour. Identify and observe what triggers this story in your head. Is it some person or activity by a few people? Take the power away from these and refuse to react in a repetitive manner.
Identify the goals and activities you need to undertake: It is also very important to have goals in life so that your focus can be taken away from your problems. Solving problems may make you avoid failure but pursuing big goals makes you successful. Write down five measurable and specific goals and what will it take to reach them.
Substitute and sustain only positive loops: If you do not change how you think about your problems and goals, you will never be able to solve them. Practise opposite thinking and reverse your negative communication loops to positive communication loops. If you have been telling yourself why you cannot do something, change it to why you can do something. This small shift in thinking will transform your life. Remind yourself of your powers rather than your weaknesses. Positive thinking and powerful self-talk automatically gives birth to highest quality action.
(Siddhartha is the bestselling author of Love Your Mondays and retire young, 60 Keys to Success with NLP and many other books)
