Thoughts on Thoughts | neonbluemidnight's Blog

We are vulnerable to our self talk. Statements made by our internal voice are made true by the subconscious, like hypnotic suggestion. It will forget evidence to the contrary of statements which it has accepted, and focus on that which supports them. For someone like me, who spends a great deal of time alone, in thought, this is a dangerous thing.

Say, for example, I say to myself, "I can't do anything right." Obviously I haven't failed at every single thing I've ever done, but my mind will forget that I have ever succeeded, and will bring me thoughts that support my statement, making me feel worse and worse in a downward spiral. My behavior will also fall in line, providing fresh evidence that the statement is true.

Attempts to consciously override this statement are exercises in futility. There are two solutions I can see; direct action (acting without thinking, "Just Do It"), and solving the statement in the subconscious and replacing it with a new one, using internal dialogue. Direct action seems to be the more effective method, since it will intrinsically solve the now-false statement anyways, and replace it with a new one.

Have to try that.