The One Invisible Thing We ALL Do That Determines the Direction of Our Lives (But That Most People Don’t Even Know They’re Doing…..)

This week an online friend reached out to me when he was feeling suuuuuper low.

He wanted to stay in bed, under the covers.

He felt awful.
He felt hopeless.
He felt depressed.

So I let him in on the little secret that…

—> our emotions are highly dependent upon the thoughts running through our head. <–

It’s not rocket science, yet most people never consider this simple A to B connection.

➡️ If you have the thought “She hates me, I’m just not likeable” — you’ll likely feel a bit sad.

➡️ If you have the thought “I did amazing this year, I achieved all my goals and am a total success” — you’ll likely feel a bit of happiness.

➡️ If you have the thought “I think I’m in the wrong part of town and this is really dangerous” — you’ll likely feel a bit anxious.

First come thoughts, then come emotions/feelings.

BUT WHAT COMES BEFORE THE THOUGHTS??

It’s the “One Invisible Thing” I alluded to in today’s post title.

And, it’s…

… A QUESTION.

Yep.

We’re asking ourselves QUESTIONS. Constantly. Non-stop.

???? And most people never even realize it. ????

Remember my friend who wanted to stay beneath the covers?

I asked him what questions he was asking himself.

He admitted he was asking himself,

“Why am I so low???”

^^^ That type of question leads us to make up some type of story that may or may not be true. About the past. About ourselves. It just causes us to sink deeper.

So I invited my friend to ask himself TOTALLY different questions.

(Not “Why” questions.)

He tried it out.

He asked himself questions like…

• “DOES my body actually need more sleep?”
• “WHAT could I do in the next 10 minutes that would change my current state?”
• “WHO could I reach out to, to help me this morning?”

^^^^ The answers to those questions pointed him in a TOTALLY different direction. They pulled him out of the loop of feeling sorry for himself. They invited him to take action.

He ended up going back to sleep, getting rest, then having a much better rest of his day.

And all he did was pause, then think for a moment about the invisible questions he was asking himself that were keeping him a bit stuck…

…THEN CHANGED HIS QUESTIONS.

The new questions changed the answers/thoughts that were coming to his mind.

And the different thoughts changed how he felt.

Once he felt different, his actions changed.

So. Powerful.

How To Take Back Control Over The Invisible Thing You’re Doing Without Realizing It…

While much of the work we do at MindFix helps people have more control over their thoughts than they’ve ever had before (and actually PREVENTS harmful thoughts from ever popping up in their minds)…

…there are 2 little steps ANYONE can do,

…ANYTIME at all….

to have more control over their thoughts (so they can then steer their emotions, which in turn impacts the actions they take).

As illustrated in the story above, the 2 steps are:

1. When you feel down or stuck, slooooow everything down, pause, and ask yourself “What questions am I asking myself right now that are leading to these stuck/icky thoughts?”
2. Once you’ve brought awareness to your (likely low-quality) questions… waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for it… CHANGE UP YOUR QUESTIONS.

[Pro-tip #1: shift “why” questions to “what” + “how” questions for maximum impact and quickest results. Pro-tip #2: include your circumstances in your questions. So, instead of “How can I feel better?” — ask “How could I feel a bit better EVEN THOUGH I have a rough head cold right now?”]

Test this simple 2-step process out.

Give it a shot — it takes almost no time out of your day but WILL greatly impact the direction of your days… weeks… life.

Enjoy.