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What do we do when those negative thoughts impact our behaviour or hold us back from doing the things we want to do?

For example, having the thought, “I have nothing to say” may lead to avoiding social situations or trying to get out of a social situation. Having the thought, “I blush too much” may lead to trying to hide your face.

So how do we deal with these negative or uncomfortable thoughts and prevent them from ruining our lives?

That’s what this podcast episode is all about… unhooking yourself from your thoughts so they no longer run your life. Listen to find out how…

• The human mind has evolved to think negatively.
• And that’s why, no matter how hard we try to think positively, we can’t stop our minds from generating negative thoughts.
• Be wary of any self-help books or programs that claim stuff like “erasing old memories” or “eliminating negative core beliefs” because it doesn’t happen. The latest research in neuroscience tells us that our brains do not eliminate old neural pathways. Our brains lay down new ones on top of the old ones.
• Our thoughts do not control our actions. Negative thoughts aren’t really the problem.
• Negative thoughts only become problematic when we get caught up in them, when we give them all our attention, when we believe them as the gospel truth, when we allow them to control us. This is called fusion.
• When we defuse from our thoughts – when we separate ourselves from our thoughts – they have little to no influence on us.
• Even just recognizing the thought as unhelpful can lessen its influence on you. However, you can go a step further and unhook yourself from your thoughts using any one of the defusion techniques discussed in this episode.
• Negative thoughts are normal. Don’t fight them. Defuse from them. You can take action even in the midst of negative thoughts.

You can download a copy of this episode’s transcript by clicking here.

The moment you notice you’ve been hooked by a thought, acknowledge it and use one of the techniques we went over. You can download a list of techniques, along with their instructions here.

Notice what happens. If you notice high expectations popping up unhook yourself by saying, “I’m having the thought that this should magically solve all my problems.”

Let your mind try its best to dissuade you and then do the homeplay anyway.

Do these techniques at least 5 times per day. The more the better. And if don’t use them notice how your mind talked you out it, what reasons did it come up with, what old stories did it tell you?