Shift the White Noise (Self-Talk) of the Mind

Maybe you’re like me and you’ve been diligent about letting go of limitations in an area or areas of your life. You’ve experienced and continue to experience the shift as a result of your focused thoughts, words, feelings, and actions.

Though I’ve been working with this for years (okay, decades), my focus on this really kicked into high gear since June 2006. Certain areas took priority and got and still get my attention.

We know that the best experience of life is when we have balance in all areas of our lives. The iPEC (Institute for Professional Empowerment Coaching) training manual lists the primary areas as (not in any particular order): Personal Development, Spiritual Awareness, Fun and Enjoyment, Intimate and Social Relationships, Health/Aging, Personal Finance, Career/Profession, and Family/Parenting. You rank each from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least satisfied level and 10 the most. This gives you a good assessment about how balanced your life is and which areas need attention.

I’ve known that once priority areas started to progress, I’d turn my attention to a specific area that’s been getting little to no attention from me simply because it hasn’t been the right moment. What I didn’t expect was the self-talk that was going on. One day, I actually listened to myself and asked, “How will this dialogue expand more of what I desire into my life?” Well, it won’t. It’s done a gang-buster job of attracting exactly what my statements have been.

We get so used to playing certain “tapes” in our minds, they become like white noise in a room.

I sat down with pen and notebook in hand and wrote down what I was doing. I noted the statements I was making to myself, and then I wrote their opposites. In order to shift any self-talk, it helps to do what I’ve just described. It helps to pay attention when these comments pop into mind and remind ourselves that’s the old tape playing and we have a new tape. Keep the new statements handy and read them whenever the old ones start to loop. Read them every morning or at least every other morning.

Just like the other areas I’ve been focused on, shifting this one will take as long as I take to shift my inner-level beliefs. Limiting thoughts and feelings will surface and I’ll pause to look at them, but not dwell on them, and I’ll rewrite them so they say what I intend for myself. In the process, I’ll discover hidden facets I possess. I’ll feel myself grow even stronger and witness expansion in my life. That’s how it works.

This is going to be fun!

Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her first book, "I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351. Contact her at jls1422@yahoo.com.