Thought Work
Do you ever notice yourself getting caught up in negative thought patterns? Or maybe you habitually move through your day without considering why you do the things that you do? Thought work is a cognitive skill that can help bring awareness to our habitual thinking patterns. This is particularly beneficial for breaking negative thinking habits or patterns that hinder us.
We experience 2 types of thoughts throughout our day-to-day: conscious and subconscious. Conscious thoughts take up only about 10% of our daily thoughts and includes our thoughts, memories, and feelings we are aware of at any given moment. Our subconscious thoughts include 90% of the thoughts in our mind. This includes our emotions, beliefs, habits, and skills that are instinct or effortless. Whether or not we realize it, these subconscious thoughts that have the most influence on us. This is why thought work can be a beneficial method to gain deeper understanding of ourselves and to determine if our self-talk is serving us.
5-Steps to “Doing the Work”
Thought work involves consciously changing our thoughts and patterns in response to our emotions and circumstances. Here is a 5-step practice to begin working on our thoughts.
Identify: In order to bring awareness to our thoughts and patterns, we must first slow down our mind. We cannot think clearly or focus on our subconscious thoughts if we’re in a frenzy. Try a brain dump exercise where you allow yourself to freely write anything that comes to mind for 5 minutes. Then reflect upon what you have written. Do you notice any patterns or recurring themes?
Focus: After identifying a specific thought or pattern, we then reflect upon this thought or idea. What stands out to you? What emotions does this elicit? Are there emotions or beliefs tied to this thought?
Consider the Truth: Now we must remove the emotions from this thought and consider it objectively. Is this 100% true? Would others consider this to be a fact? In most cases the answer will be no. We are able to take a step back from the rabbit hole and consider other solutions or alternatives from a realistic perspective.
Decide: After gaining a clear perspective, we weigh the thought and decide how to move forward. Does this thought build me up or knock me down? Am I positively influenced by this thought. We have the power to choose which thoughts stay and which thoughts go.
Reframe: By making the deliberate choice to disrupt the thought cycle, we are able to start reframing our mind. Our thoughts, actions, and feelings influence one another. By making the conscious choice to reframe a specific idea or thought, we in turn will influence both our actions and feelings.
Self-awareness is a powerful tool that can help us take control of our negative thinking habits. Next time you find yourself in a rut or something heavy on your mind, take some time to reflect and see if thought work can benefit you.
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