Three Ways to Prevent Your Mind from Sabotaging You

When it comes to starting and stopping good habits, we’ve all heard the expression “It’s human nature.” Frequently, people will engage in a new activity that’s good for them, and then slowly but surely revert to their old ways. Even though there’s improvement and the person feels better, they stop doing the things that helped them. Whether it’s eating healthy, exercising, journaling, or engaging in personal growth, there’s a cycle of gung-ho followed by reverting to old habits.

The mind is fascinating. It rules our worst choices without realization. Even worse, we actually listen to it. It wants pleasure without effort and avoidance of displeasure at all costs. The only problem: the advice is never right. It tells us good self-care is too hard and blinds us to the consequences of poor self-care.

Take any goal you’re trying to achieve. You decide on a plan of action and implement it. You start the process and despite the effort, you recognize you feel better. But the newness wears off after a while and you feel less motivated. You start listening to thoughts like; “I’m tired of this,” “I need a break,” or “I’ll skip it today I’m just too stressed.” Eventually, the old ways return, and you slip back into patterns you worked so hard to break. I’ve done it myself many times with exercise, therapy, education, eating healthy, etc. But it doesn’t have to be that way. After years of learning how my mind works, things began to change.

#1 Be Aware of What Your Mind is Telling You

The mind is like an internal trickster that rules us without our awareness. It never stops making suggestions and operates like a spinning wheel and a bingo machine all at once. Its non-stop chatter fluctuates between problems and desires but never offers sound advice. It keeps us unsettled and feeling twisted. It robs us of feeling calm and happy. It will talk you into the wrong choice and then condemn you for the same thing it just encouraged you to do. All the while we’re completely unconscious of how we’re being affected.

Take a moment to pay attention to your thoughts. Write down some of them. Can you see how they never stop advising, suggesting, counteracting, and fueling you with mixed messages? It’s no wonder we feel anxious, stressed, and unsure of ourselves.

You don’t have to lock into senseless thoughts. You can treat them like leaves blowing by you or road signs that you see but don’t pay attention to.

#2 Thank Your Mind for the Suggestion and Move On

There’s no point in fighting your mind when its mission is to keep you stuck. Instead, you can just acknowledge what it’s saying and move on. For example, if your mind says, “I’m too tired to exercise,” you simply say, “You’re too tired, but let’s go. You’ll feel good about yourself once the class is over.” Or if it says, “Go ahead and eat that extra piece of chocolate cake,” you can say, “You want more, but it’s not good for you to eat so much sugar. You won’t feel very good when you step on the scale, so let’s have a cup of tea and read a magazine instead.” When you’re angry and want to blast someone, “It’s okay to be angry. Let’s calm down and then figure out a way to handle this constructively.”

When your mind rambles on and on, you simply recognize you’re watching a movie without a middle, beginning, or end. If you were looking at the TV screen and this was happening, you’d be offended and turn the channel. But when it comes to the mind, we get pulled into unconsciously watching the non-stop circus of nothing. Those thoughts are constantly regulating your emotional state. But you can switch the channel anytime and control your thoughts and actions so that a bingo machine isn’t ruling you.

#3 Dig Deeper with New Challenges

One of the main reasons people stop constructive behaviors is boredom. When life gets too predictable, it’s not as exciting to engage. But instead of letting your thoughts drive you away to something like sitting at home, busy work, or indulging in your favorite pastime, you can ramp up the challenge.

If it’s exercise, you can take a new type of class or go to a new location. Try something harder or different. Find a buddy with whom to participate. If you’re in therapy or a self-help group, get more involved. Dig deeper, be honest with yourself about what you’d like to change and commit to doing it. If you want to replace a bad habit with a good one, make a definite plan and stick to it whether you feel like it or not. If you have a project, devote a specific amount of time, and don’t waver. Whatever the challenge make it a priority – even if it means rescheduling. Remember, this is for you, no one else.

No one will ever have more control over you than yourself. You don’t have to spend your entire life wondering why success eludes you. You deserve to be victorious and be freed from unwanted behaviors. No one ever has more power over your mind, than you. Success is easy when your turn the channel from static noise and bad advice to the channel of self-love.

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