Table of Contents
Are toxic thoughts and beliefs preventing you from moving forward with your goals and dreams? If so, how about taking some steps to detoxify your mind!
We usually think of detoxification as the process of removing toxins from our body to achieve a greater level of health and well-being. What most people don’t realize is that our minds can also become incredibly toxic.
How do you know if you have toxic thoughts? Well, do you find yourself feeling powerless, hopeless, intimidated, frustrated, ineffective and stuck? Granted, everyone experiences some of these feelings occasionally, but if you spend much of your time feeling like this, you’ve definitely got a case of mental toxic overload.
Two simple steps to de-toxic your mind
To eliminate toxic thoughts we need to capture them and move them out of our mind. How can we do that? Have you ever heard the phrase: I need to capture my thoughts on paper? How about this one: I need to wrap my mind around what it says here?
We can use the principles in those two common phrases to purge our mind of toxic thoughts, and to replace them with a more positive and empowering thought pattern. This will, in effect, radically alter our perception of our own abilities.
First, purge the toxins
The first step is to find a way to purge the negative thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back. One of the best ways to do this is to write them down. Grab a blank sheet of paper and a pen, and start writing how you feel about yourself, your goals, your dreams, and your life in general.
You might end up with statements like these: “I feel so sick and tired of struggling. No matter what I do I can’t seem to make changes. I really think I’m defective somehow because I can’t do the things that other people find so easy. I’m doomed to live a life of mediocrity and lack. I’m powerless to change anything in my life.”
Keep writing until you’ve covered everything you can think of.
Next, create the antidote
All of those negative thoughts and beliefs you just wrote down are literally polluting your potential! Unless you replace them with something more empowering, they’ll continue to influence everything you think, say and do.
Grab another sheet of paper and begin writing a positive statement that directly contradicts each negative one. However, be sure you write it in a way that is believable to you. Using the examples from above, your antidote might look like this: “I am absolutely determined to make better progress on improving my life. I can make changes simply by taking one step at a time and believing in my own ability. I am learning new and powerful life skills to help me conquer challenges and move forward. Other people who appear to have it easy may have been working on this stuff longer than I have. I will eventually reach the same state of confidence and mastery. I know I have the power to learn, grow, and make my life into something meaningful and fulfilling.”
Now, make the switch
Once you’ve got your antidote ready, destroy the toxins. That sheet of paper you wrote all the negative stuff on is now where those toxic thoughts live. When you wrote them down, you took them out of your mind and relocated them to that sheet of paper. Now that you have them where you want them, it’s time to eliminate them from your life.
Take that piece of paper and burn it or rip it into tiny shreds and throw it away. Feel the relief that comes from knowing that those thoughts are no longer part of your life. To make sure they don’t sneak back in; take the antidote every single day! Read your new empowering thoughts as often as you can and do your best to internalize them as part of your new identity.
Fortify your mind
In most cases, a tiny bit of toxins usually won’t cause a big problem, but if you allow them to build up over time they can wreak absolute havoc in your life. That’s true with both physical and mental toxins. By taking the antidote on a regular basis, you minimize the buildup of mental toxins in your mind and automatically empower yourself to do and be more than you ever believed possible.