Blog for Self Improvement

Do you talk with yourself? When we hear people talking aloud with themselves we consider it weird. But have you noticed that all people, with no exception, talk silently with themselves? This, we do not consider odd or weird.

If someone hurts you in some way, or says something you do not like, what do you do? You enact a whole scene of anger in your mind! You envision yourself talking angrily; you shout at him and tell him some not so nice things. Sometimes people spend hours in such negative, destructive inner dialogues.

There is a continuous conversation going on in everyone's head, and a lot of energy, time and attention are wasted on small unimportant incidents. This conversation goes on from the moment of waking until falling asleep.

The inner dialogue continues while working, studying, reading, watching TV, talking, walking, eating, etc. There is a constant judging of people, commenting on what is going on, planning, gossiping, and mental conversations with people.

These inner dialogues bring about a snowball effect. The more we conduct them, the more we become chained to them and unable to stop them. When the emotions are also evoked, more power, energy and attachment are added. This has an adverse effect on the behavior, judgment and general performance.

On many occasions the inner dialogue is negative and strengthens any negative attitude and behavior. Few people have enough faith in themselves and in their abilities, so as to conduct positive inner dialogues. The process and effect of these inner conversations is similar to affirmations. Constant thinking about the same subject influences the subconscious mind, which consequently accepts these thoughts and words and acts on them. Negative inner dialogues bring negative results, and positive inner dialogues bring positive results.

You can use this process to your advantage. It is an automatic activity, which goes on whether you are aware of it or not. If you learn to become aware of it, you gain the ability to control it. You can turn it into a positive dialogue. If you do that, you come to realize that you have a mighty power in your possession.

Try to be aware of your thoughts. Calmly watch what is going in your mind, even if after a few moments you may forget to do that. The inner dialogue goes on even when physically you are engaged with something else. It is not so easy to mentally separate oneself from the thoughts and words the flow through the mind.

Over and over again endeavor to keep your attention of what is going inside your head, and eventually you will be able to become aware of the inner dialogue for longer times. Watching the mind and what is going on inside it develops detachment. Detachment gives a better control of the mind and its chatter.

Whenever you catch yourself conducting a useless, futile conversation with yourself, stop it. Change it to something more useful. Replace the subject, and the words. It is like running an audiotape. Why not replace it with another tape that you like? Why let this tape play by itself? Change the words of the inner dialogue to positive ones about good health, happiness and success.

There is another thing you can do, but this needs concentration and will power. You can try to stop this inner conversation altogether. Try to ignore it and give your mind a vacation. Let the mind rest for a little while. Life can certainly go on, even when this dialogue is silenced. For a little while, enjoy some rest from the mind's incessant conversation.

The inner dialogue is fine sometimes, but most of the time it is just incessant useless chatter, which distract the attention from what you are doing at each moment. By becoming aware of it, and replacing it with a positive one, or just refusing to become involved with it, you gain the ability to control it.

© Copyright Remez Sasson

Remez Sasson teaches and writes on positive thinking, creative visualization, motivation, self-improvement, peace of mind, spiritual growth and meditation. He is the author of several books, among which are "Peace of mind in Daily Life", "Will Power and Self Discipline", "Visualize and Achieve" and "Affirmations - Words of Power".

Visit his website and find articles and books filled with inspiration, motivation and practical advice and guidance.
Website: http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com

Books: http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_and_books.htm

Ready to start thinking outside the box? You hear the expression enough, but what is the box, and how do you get outside of it with your thinking? Start with the following technique.

The Metaphorical Box

To play with the metaphor a little, imagine that you are actually in a box. Written on the cardboard walls around you is a description of the world outside. This may be a very detailed and accurate description in some ways, giving you a good idea what the world is like. You may even use this knowledge to come up with some ideas that could be useful in the outside world.

Of course the world is larger and more complex than any description can capture - no matter how detailed. Obviously, as long as you stay inside this box, your thinking will be very limited. If you want to really know the world, and if you want your thinking about it to be more productive, you need to be outside the box.

Getting Outside The Box Of Our Thoughts

All of us are "in the box" at times. The "box" consists of our habitual and limiting ways of thinking and solving problems. This is easiest to understand with a simple example.

Suppose Mary hates her boss. He has been unfair and rude. Her first approach to this problem was to go above his head and complain, in the hope that he would be fired. It didn't work.

She thought about transferring to another department, or perhaps even quitting. That just made her angry. Why should she quit, when he is the one that causes the trouble? Then she started to think about revenge. The idea made her smile, but she knew it would only mean bigger problems.

Mary decided that her thinking wasn't very productive, and she needed to start thinking outside the box. How did she go about this? First, she identified some key elements about her approach - some assumptions she was making - and she challenged them.

She realized that she was assuming that her boss was the problem. You could say that this was part of the description written on the inside of her box. It may have been accurate, but it wasn't helping, so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem?" What was she doing that she could do differently? Now she was looking outside the box.

Right away she saw that she was dwelling on his rude behavior and unfair decisions. If she could ignore those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. She stopped focusing on his behavior and found that things improved for her at work.

Also, she was making herself a target, she realized. Her visibly getting upset seemed to make her boss act even worse. She started answering his rudeness by smiling like she knew some secret. He seemed confused, and he stopped making as many rude comments.

Then, she realized that in her box, this situation was painted as a battle between him and her. Did it have to be a battle, she asked, challenging her approach. What if instead she tried to help him? She laughed, and mumbled to herself, "Yeah, help him find another job." Suddenly, this seemed like a good idea. She found his resume and secretly sent it to a corporate headhunter. A month later he had a job offer and he left for good. She was even promoted to his position.

There are a lot of ways to start thinking outside the box, but one of the first to try is to challenge your assumptions.

By: Steve Gillman

Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Copyright Steve Gillman. For inventions, new product ideas, business ideas, story ideas, political and economic theories, deep thoughts, and a free course on How To Have New Ideas, visit : www.999ideas.com