Ah ANTs!
They crawl creeping up all around you.
One after another, they swarm swiftly as an army.
You stomp them, but its not enough.
What are the ANTs I’m referring to?
That's right.
Automatic Negative Thoughts!
These little power houses pack a punch.
They fill your mind as anxiety and fear bubble up to the surface.
What are the types of ANTs that I'm talking about?
How can we identify them?
Well, after reading Daniel Amen’s book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, I have a good idea how to exterminate these pest.
Before we dispell the poison into the mound, we’ll have to look at what a thought is.
According to the National Science Foundation, 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% are repetitive.
The National Science Foundation says the average person has between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day.
That's a lot of ANTs!
If you are like me, you battle against these negative thoughts.
If you're not aware, your body reacts to every thought you have!
The brain releases chemicals based on the thoughts you think.
Pretty powerful.
Thoughts are real and ther have a direct impact on how you feel and
how you behave.
Here’s a summary of the types of ANTs you may encounter:
All-or-nothing thinking: thoughts that things are all good or all bad.
"Always" thinking: thinking in words like always, never, no one, every-one, every time, or everything.
Focusing on the negative: only seeing the bad in a situation.
Fortune telling: predicting the worse possible outcome to a situation with little or no evidence for it.
Mind reading: believing that you know what another person is thinking even though they haven’t told you.
Thinking with your feelings: believing negative feelings without ever questioning them.
Guilt beatings: thinking in words like should, must, ought, or have to.
Labeling: attaching a negative label to yourself or to someone else.
Blaming: blaming someone else for the problems you have.
_____________________________
How do we disempower these negative thoughts?
First by identifying them and recognising them as they enter your mind.
Here are some examples of ways to kill these ANTs:
_____________________________
There's nothing to do.
All or Nothing
There are probably lots of
things to do if I think about
it for a while.
_____________________________
No one will ever want to
date me.
Always Thinking
That's silly; be patient and
put myself in situations
where I can meet people.
_____________________________
The boss doesn't like me.
Mind Reading
I don't know that. Maybe
she's just having a bad day.
Bosses are people too.
_____________________________
I'm stupid.
Labeling
Sometimes I do things that
aren't too smart, but I'm not
stupid.
_____________________________
Its my wife's fault.
Blaming
I need to look at my part of
the problem and look for
ways I can make the
situation better.
Personally, I struggle with All or Nothing thinking.
That, and Mind Reading.
Before reading this book, I was totally unaware of these ANTs.
Now, I'm able to redirect them into a different direction.
Can you relate to the list above?
Don't let negative thoughts destroy your peace.
My hope is this will facilitate a better mindset.
Cheers!