Learning to change how you think is a skill. And I’m going to teach you exactly how, right now!

You could learn all the most useful mindsets out there, but if you don't know how to actually implement them, nothing will change.

I could tell you today “think more positively” and do you know how useful that is to you?

Sure it is a nice sentiment, and technically correct in terms of improving your day to day happiness and over-all life satisfaction.

Studies also show that those who have more positive internal dialogues tend to climb corporate hierarchies at a faster rate then those with more negative internal dialogues.

But this mindset is absolutely useless if you don’t yet know the process of implementing a mindset.

And the answer is going to seem reasonably intuitive, however, if you’re anything like the majority of people, (including myself). You may not have learned the skill.

Like any external skill you can learn, such as kicking a ball or improving your body language. Changing the way you think is a skill.

Yes, it can be incredibly difficult depending on how deeply rooted your current unconscious belief system is.

BUT. It can be changed.

Your current shitty belief system is not permanent. So, how do you change it?

First let me.. ahem.. man-splain how your mind works.

These examples may seem particularly familiar if you come from a place of lower self esteem.

But so did I, So you’re in good company 😉.

When someone has lower self esteem, they tend to have neurotic thought patterns that will automatically assume the negative.

Say someone calls you attractive. Instead of then thinking, they're right, I am attractive. You think “Oh they just have low standards, so anyone would be attractive to them”

You may have an initial confidence boost, but then neurotic thoughts will pop up, downplaying what happened and bring you back down, in line with your previous self image.

Yes, that is a very specific and very basic example of how your neurotic negative thought patterns work, however I hope it gets the point across.

You always assume the worst. Whether it be through internal dialogue or through negative images in your head.

Now I’ll give an image example, in case you’re a visual thinker.

Say you are going snorkelling in the ocean. You jump off the boat and look down. And you cannot see the sea floor. All you can see is the blue of the ocean underneath you, going deeper and deeper blue until black.

Then in an instant as a response to you not being able to see any further then a couple of meters beneath you, you instinctively start having visions of various dangerous animals coming at you from the deep, maybe a shark, or a squid. Either way it causes your heart to pound and fill you with anxiety.

Here’s a simpler example.

Say you’re going ice skating for the first time, and the first image you have of yourself ice skating is you falling over and embarrassing yourself.

This may have hit a nerve for you, or perhaps not, and in that case, good for you.

Either way, it is no accident that you think this way.

Just like I explained in the previous article, your brain is a survival machine. And it automatically conjures up these negative scenario's as essentially “practice”. To prepare you for danger, or to deal with social pressure.

And your negative self image is a submissive behaviour you learned due to being provided negative feedback from your peers and superiors from a young age.

Now these negative assumptions have grown their roots deep into your subconscious.

However, through the skill of implementing and practising new mindsets, you can remove these thought patterns, root and stem.

The first thing you need to understand is that it is possible to change the way you think.

(which it absolutely is).

If you believe to your absolute core that you are stuck with the way you think, you won’t change.

But if you believe you are capable of change, this is where the magic begins.

Now, I can give you all of the mindsets in the world. And you might really resonate with them. However if you never go through the process of practising and implementing these mindsets, they’ll essentially just become a gimmick.

Much like a flaccid penis. There is a lot of potential there, but if not stimulated properly.. essentially useless.. unless you’re a helicopter enthusiast.

On that note, lets get into the juicy stuff.

Let me teach you exactly how to implement a mindset.

Lets go with the “assume the positive” mindset.

Because it’s simple, wholistic, and almost a gimmick at this point.

However once you actually begin assuming the positive in all aspects of your life, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your overall performance in all tasks and quality of life.

Lets get started.

Assuming the positive is literally as simple as it sounds.

Assume the best possible outcome for any endeavour you begin.

Lets go back to the ice skating scenario. You may have those negative assumptions of you falling over and being sh!t at it.

But recognise those assumptions and replace them with visions of you absolutely nailing it, and enjoying yourself.

Lets go to an experience I’m sure you’ve experienced.

Lets say you want to talk to an attractive girl.

Your automatic thought before approaching is probably “she is going to reject me” or “I’m going to run out of things to say and it’s going to be awkward”

When these automatic negative thoughts flood in, you need to actively recognise these thoughts and then replace them with positive ones such as: “she is going to absolutely love me” or “she is going to really appreciate my confidence” or even “this is going to be my future wife.”

now, are these positive thoughts always going to be accurate?

Absolutely not.

But on the flip side, neither are the negative thoughts.

Studies show, those who assume the positive when it comes to any endeavour, will always outperform those who assume the negative.

Regardless of how realistic their assumptions are.

Now is that enough evidence for you to start thinking more positively?

However, it takes a lot of practice for you to actually ingrain it into your personality.

So now what you need to do is PRACTICE!

Like any skill, it needs to be performed, over and over again.

Also like any skill, you are going to be absolutely sh!t at first, and your automatic negative assumptions are probably going to override your new sunny disposition.

But over time, you will become more proficient at identifying when these negative assumptions pop up and replacing them with positive assumptions, to the point where your instinctual assumptions begin to start being positive.

Now there are so many more layers to this concept but think of this article as more of an “introduction.”

So from todays article, if there is one thing I want you to get out of it, it is that changing the way you think takes **TIME **AND PRACTICE!

Don’t expect to just learn a mindset and then automatically profoundly change the way you think.

You need to actually practice these mindsets, every chance you get.

This is just the first article I am going to write on mindsets.

In the coming weeks I am going to teach you all of my favourite mindsets that have literally skyrocketed my overall happiness and confidence.

However those mindsets would be essentially useless to you if you don’t know how to actually implement them. Hence why this article has come first.

Anyway, start practising what I have taught you.

That’s all for today,

Ben Sterling.