“Our thoughts are material” – 12 years ago I heard this phrase from the movie “The Secret”, and a few months later the first book and collage of dreams appeared. Time went by, but reality was not in a hurry to change: visualization, affirmations – everything was going on, but there were no significant changes.
Some dreams came true, but most of them did not reach their goals and were left without a chance to come true. Later on I realized that I was not ready for a new life from the pictures: there was a very strong, practically felt stress in my body. For example, at the next business seminar, I was writing down the goal: “the income of 10,000,000 rubles” – and I was breathtaking inside, sweating palms and dizzy with fear. Years later, I figured out what happened to me.
Their Majesty the Brain
To understand what happens to us when we are planning serious goals, let us look at our physiology, particularly the work of our brain. It is a proven fact that in our head there are three of them, working independently of each other: reptile, limbic system and neocortex.
Reptile – responsible for self-preservation of us as individuals: as long as our lives are not threatened – he sleeps.
Limbic is responsible for the entire emotional spectrum of feelings.
Neo-cortex – responsible for thoughts, the ability to analyze and other conscious actions.
Of the above, we’re interested in the limbic brain, let’s take a closer look. So, what does the limbic system want: to enjoy life, to rest, to have fun, to love and, of course, to eat deliciously. What he does not want: to learn, develop, build and execute plans. And if suddenly we start to set goals, plan for the achievement of goals and develop through the introduction of new habits, the limbic system begins to fight against it.
Imagine a child being shown how to brush his teeth properly and he starts running away, screaming, covering his mouth with his hands, etc. He doesn’t want to learn new things and tries to avoid them as much as possible. The same happens in our body: the brain creates stress that must stop our desire to change. In war, as you know, all means are good: negative attitudes, past bad experiences of your own or friends’, social pressure, fear of appearing to be a loser, etc. pop up. This list is huge and everyone has their own. Rest assured, our wise body remembers and stores information about each defeat, and will be able to correctly “prompt” that this is not necessary to do, because they lived well and quietly.
It turns out that stress in the body occurs at the thought stage, that is, we just thought, and we already have a block to implement our ideas. ⠀ There can be anything here: the desire to earn big money, create new relationships, make up with your parents, do sports, go on a trip, etc. – wherever self-improvement is implied, the brain will put up barriers and barriers. And now back to the first sentence of my article: “Our thoughts are material.” The brain, as a machine, is ready to realize everything we focus on the most, but how can it realize what it does not want and what makes the body very stressed?
The brain reasoning: I think about changes, and I’m already stressed, and what happens if it really happens? And he does not let our dreams come true, he does not find the necessary options for the development of events in which our goals become reality. He’s so calmer and safer, you can understand him. As a result, instead of leaping forward, we stay where we are or introduce habits at the speed the limbic brain is willing to go.
Science to help
But as I wrote above, there is a way out of this situation. Today, there are various practices for releasing stress: in psychology, coaching, kinesiology (knowledge of Chinese medicine), through meditation, etc. How does it work? You wanted money, a lot of money – in the body there is stress on this thought: it can be caused by various root causes, ranging from “it is dangerous to be rich, all rich people are thieves and murderers”, to the banal failed past of life experience, when you remained with large debts and hard to return. Our wise body will never materialize such a goal, because one thought makes you uncomfortable inside.
At a session with a specialist you are removed stress in the body on the desired goal, and now you have a harmonious acceptance of this thought and nothing prevents it from materializing into external life.
Imagine, you have a new car – it’s your potential, ahead of the bank where you have an account – your goal. Before you open the car, you don’t believe it’s your car (low self-esteem). The next step: after believing that you are worthy, you begin to speculate whether I can drive it (and what if I can’t do that the neighbors will say if I immediately hit somewhere or can’t start a car at all). The next step: having studied the device of the car, having passed training with the instructor (added expertise), you sit down and start driving, reach the intersection, there is a red traffic light (your negative attitude that being rich is dangerous for your family). And so on, so on, so on… Some of these tortures and postponements are called prokrastinations. Naturally, having done the work on yourself – having realized and worked out negative psychological attitudes, fears and complexes – you will definitely reach the goal. But it is much greener and more comfortable to work with a specialist and to achieve the same goal in a more resourceful and fuller state.
And for those of you who want to start acting now, catch a life pack – how to outsmart the limbic brain:
- If he’s afraid of significant changes, change in small steps – don’t make a million in a year, make a 10% plus to your income this month.
- If he doesn’t understand why he needs to change, clearly explain to him what he will get when you acquire new skills and habits (show him the bonuses: more delicious food, comfortable riding, exclusive clothes, etc.).
- Thank yourself even for the smallest changes and victories – and he will understand that change is not only fearful, but also pleasant.
