Capture Your Thoughts
Does it ever feel like your thoughts are controlling you instead of you controlling your thoughts? Here are a few tips to help you take back control when anxiety spikes or the same thought keeps rolling around inside your head.
Distance Yourself
Rise above
When you start having thoughts that seem too big to control, imagine you are rising above the earth. Take a God’s-eye view of your thoughts. What do your thoughts look like when you look down from on high? Not so big. Now, you can start to capture those rogue thoughts.
File it
When you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts, whether they be fear, anxiety, anger, doubt, or regret, take note. Put that thought in a file---a mental file. All your anxiety can go into a mental anxiety file. When that thought comes up, look at it, slot it into the file, and put it away.
Name It and Shame It
Name the script
If you have recurring thoughts of disaster or failure, give that script a title. If you often think you’re a failure, title that inner movie Bob’s Adventures in Failure. Next time that thought comes up, note it and name it. ‘Looks like I’m running the Bob’s Adventures in Failure film again.‘
Act out the comedy
Even better, write out your negative scripts and then read them with an Elmer Fudd or Foghorn Leghorn voice. The cartoon voices will make the whole thing sound silly.
Think About Thoughts
You are not thoughts
You are not your thoughts. When a thought is capturing you, aim at it. Think about your thoughts. Thoughts are just that, a thought. They only have power over you when you give them power. When you have thoughts of disaster or worry, tell yourself, ‘[Your name], you’re having thoughts about worry.’ Thoughts are not reality.
Shine a light
Bring your thoughts into the spotlight. Negative thoughts tend to lose a lot of their power in broad daylight. Once you recognize, ‘I’m having thoughts of disappointment,’ you can see that these thoughts often grow and gain power because we are not paying attention to them. Destructive thoughts grow in darkness. Haul them out into the light and expose them. Talk about them with a friend.
Keeping Your Mind
The key to getting ahold of our thoughts is to recognize we have them. Once we know these are our thoughts, we can take a step back from each thought, bring it out front, and look at it from every angle. Naming the thoughts drains away the power of unnamed dark thoughts. Once they have a name, our control over them begins. Take control of your thoughts by bringing them into the light where you can see right through them.
