{Series Part 5}–The Ant and the Elephant: Strengthen Confidence

We are almost done with this series on “The Ant and the Elephant”. I hope you have been learning (and applying) some new ways to chase your dream. So far we have learned to CLARIFY OUR VISION, COMMIT TO CULTIVATING POSITIVE DOMINANT THOUGHTS, and CONSISTENTLY FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE. Today we will focus on the next to last step—STRENGTHEN CONFIDENCE.

Imagine you have been hard at work. You’ve attached an emotion to your dream and visualize it throughout the day. And you understand that change is gradual, but you know you are making progress. You’re feeling good and everything seems to be going great, when you happen across a couple of negative people. They try to convince you that your dreams are dumb and that you probably don’t have the skills to achieve them anyway. Unfortunately you believe them and your self-talk takes on a negative, downward spiral.

Luckily you have a mentor. Or at least Adir the ant has one and you can learn from him too.

Brio taught Adir that one negative thought leads to another and another and another. When your mind is plagued with negative thoughts, what do you do? Brio suggested a few things to Adir to help him interrupt the negative thought pattern.

1. Do some deep breathing—this calms the mind and helps you focus
2. Try looking at something different—the mind can only hold one thought at a time
3. Find a way to turn around the negative thoughts/Replace negative thoughts with positive ones—think this not that
4. Create a catch phrase—“No thanks, that is not part of my vision. My vision is. . .” or say an affirmation

I love the analogy that compares your mind to a garden plot.

The seeds you plant are the thoughts you think, the books you read, the images you view, the people you hang out with, and the information you process. Are they good seeds? If you nourish them they begin to bear fruit. As James Allen writes, “good thoughts bear good fruit [and] bad thoughts bear bad fruit.” Your thoughts are the first steps toward your actions and results. If you don’t do anything in your garden weeds begin to grow. Weeds don’t require any help to grow—the come naturally. Implementing the steps above help keep the weeds at bay.

As you learn to recognize negative patterns, you will interrupt them earlier and earlier. What other ways do you interrupt the negative thought cycle?

Come back next week and learn the last step—CONTROL THE RESPONSE TO ANY SITUATION.

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