This is the second in a series on the 7 disciplines of Inner Excellence.
Summary:
- Words have the power of life and death.
- Your life unfolds according to your beliefs, and your beliefs are built around words that become thoughts and then feelings.
- Speak the truth about the past to create possibilities in the future.
“So think as if your every thought were to be etched in fire upon the sky for all and everything to see. For so, in truth, it is.”
– Mikhail Naimy
As a performance coach to professional athletes, I teach performers how to compete with peace and confidence under pressure. One of the most important parts of my job is to help them understand how the thoughts they think correlate to how they perform.
The problem
So often most of us speak words that are untrue; we describe pictures of our past that we don’t want to continue, but say them as if they are a current reality in the present moment.
For example, a golfer might say “I’m struggling with my putting.” However, unless they’re mid-stroke, that’s not true. A true statement would be, “This morning I struggled with my putting.” Or even better, rather than add your opinion (or feelings), you might say “This morning I had 40 putts,” or “I had multiple 3-putts.”
Here’s how it works: Our lives unfold according to our beliefs, and our beliefs come from everything we think, feel and say, especially what we feel. Since our feelings come from our thoughts, we need to speak the truth about who we are and what’s possible at all times.
So when we fail or don’t get what we want, it’s important to make sure we say it as past tense, since the truth is, whatever happened that you failed at or just didn’t like is in the past.
You might ask, who are you, the grammar police? No. I have learned, however, that your subconscious mind is listening to everything you say and makes a belief out of it. Or more often, it reinforces old, limiting beliefs.
When we talk about problems or failures of the past (or anything we don’t want to continue) in the present tense, our subconscious takes us out of the present moment where anything is possible, into the past, looks for experiences to match the words, then looks for patterns, and finally, brings the images and feelings with us.
So the discipline of affirmation is to speak the truth about the past to create possibilities in the future.
This discipline also involves reciting statements about our lives regularly about who we are and what’s possible for us. For example, “I live in a world of abundance” is a statement I got from my friend John Kehoe, author of Mind Power into the 21st Century. (Over two million copies sold).
Action to take
* Remember to speak about anything you don’t want to continue in the past tense.
* Put silent affirmation reminders on your phone (iPhones use the alarm feature) to remind you of your goals and dreams.
* Read John’s Mind Power book.
Let me know how it goes!
Love Jim