I talk too much.

I’m annoying them..

I’ll never figure out technology.

I’ll can’t lose weight.

Do any of those sound familiar? Maybe things you’ve said to yourself or you’ve heard a friend say about themselves.

Automatic Negative Thoughts or ANTs.

A friend was telling me about ANTs last year, and it recently came up again with another friend this past week. Both times reminded me to listen for (but not to) these voices in my head, and in some cases, words I actually say aloud. They are harmful and keep us from achieving what we’re capable of doing in work and life. They’re hard to stop because they are often part of a pattern that’s been around for years. They’re sometimes so ingrained in our minds that we don’t even realize they are there.

How do you break a pattern you don’t know exists?

Start listening to the things you say aloud, the excuses or the reasons you can’t do things. You may find a pattern of the same negative statement.

Listen to things you tell yourself. These may be harder to “hear.” One way to do this is that whenever you stop yourself from doing something, think back to your last internal thought.

What did you say last?

What made you stop what you were doing?

Was there a feeling that made you stop what you were doing?

It’s okay if you can’t answer, continue to do the exercise. As it becomes a habit to ask this question, the brain will remember to listen more.

Acknowledge your Automatic Negative Thoughts and move on

This can be hard. Acknowledging them isn’t as hard, and the simple act will help you move past it. You can’t change something you don’t know about, but you can change things you know about.

Write them down

Write down your negative thoughts, look for trends and commonalities in the different ones you use.

What’s the cost?

What are your ANTs keeping you from doing?

How is that hurting you?

Is it hurting your Finances? Relationships? Job?

What would you do if you were free from your ANTs?

Make a list of the things you didn’t get to do.

Create a list of things you want to do. Look at your list of ANTs and evaluate which will prevent you from your achieving your dreams.

Rephrase the ANT to serve you and your purpose.

If you want more help to tap into positive thoughts, download my Find Your Focus Journal, it’s designed to help you create positive thoughts and thought patterns.

If you want to get more done, take a look at the Unhackable program. It will help you implement your ideas with laser sharp focus.