Automatic thoughts are produced by our subconscious mind
The average person processes over 60'000 separate thoughts per day, of which 90% occur subconsciously. Automatic thoughts are produced by our subconscious mind and continue to execute without the involvement of our conscious mind. Think about how many things you just do, day in day out, without even consciously thinking about it. These automatic thoughts are like mini computer programs in our subconscious minds. They automatically come into action as a response to stimuli in our environment.
While many automatic thoughts are positive, some of them can create undesirable limitations in terms of your ability to evolve, progress and reach significant personal goals in your life – you could call them “success blockers”. They simply prevent you from progressing in areas where you'd like to succeed.
Automatic thoughts determine your thought patterns, attitudes and behaviors. The reactions you then observe from your environment validate your thoughts. A key observation is that certain “automatic thoughts” are triggered by common belief patterns (schema) with groups of people who experience the same or similar challenges and limitations.
The first step in eliminating automatic thoughts that prevent you from being successful is to determine negative thought patterns that trigger success limiting thoughts, attitudes and behaviors.
The second step is to actively change these thought patterns (cognitive modification) and introduce cognitive patterns that have been observed to trigger positive results.
But how do you do that? Ask yourself, how many people you know, maybe including yourself, who despite honest attempts to change their destiny
- lead unfulfilled or unsatisfying lives
- feel like they're not where would like to be at this point in their lives
- continue to struggle with money problems
- suffer from low self confidence
- are not satisfied with their work
- have not found the right partner
Authored by Dr Anadi Sahoo