…starting with CREATIVITY.
Let us first understand that if you want to change something in your life that is undesirable you will need a deep desire to change. This is much more than a “ lets see if this will work” attitude. To change you will need to exert a real true burning desire to do so. Have you ever gotten really gun hoe on an idea to overcome any form of mental torment and them spoken or just thought to yourself….. “well, this probably will not work either”…. Such a thought as this could contribute to failure or at least a major setback,
It is better to take a start and don’t stop attitude! Sure, there will be bumps along the way but as they say jump back on the saddle.
Let us look at some examples that can create the foundation of success.
- A body builder does not gain a “6 pack” overnight. It takes work. It takes time and energy for the proper muscles to respond, but if the body builder would stop his workouts the “6 pack” will disappear.
At any time if the body builder would let doubt of failure influence him, that “6 pack” may never materialize. If the so called body builder does not work out on a regular basis, the “6 pack” will be just a dream. Everyone has abdominal muscles but only some have a burning dersire to reach that goal. Everyone has the ability to be happy and live a fulfilling life. Your path may just be a little different than someone else’s. The starting place must be a burning desire and a start and don’t stop attitude. As you can make progress toward controlling a negative habitual thought pattern, your overthinking will start to shrink away. But you will need to “exercise your new abilities” you will have to continue to strengthen and use skills to help you to overcome overthinking.
[The success of our prision ministry may hold a key on how to become free. Incarcerated people often all say the same thing. There was a void in their life and their actions were an attempt to fill that void. The ones who successfully have changed their lives are those that came to know God. One young man I know now raps some of the most awsome messages. If you are interested let me know and I can send you his contact info.]
When you have negative thoughts or doubts, that reside in your imagination, they can become a dominant influence on the success of your problem-solving ability. Simply said you will always see the glass half empty not half full. If your thought pattern is speculative, it may be based on past failures or triggers that can get your mind racing. This type of living in the past must be discarded so you can enjoy your future.
Instead of doubt or worry that things will never improve you must begin revamping negative thoughts into positive thoughts and emotions.
Instead of nuturing a fear of failure, it is important that you start to overwhelm your thoughts with those of success! This should be an ongoing commitment. Not just a few weeks here and a few weeks there. Start by being thankful for the little things. As we have mentioned before speak it outloud!
Your imagination has to start to SEE the light at the end of the tunnel. We have written about positive self-talk. Your ears need to hear it. It helps you form new mental pathways toward success.
Remember we have stated that your brain can not tell the difference between actually doing a skill or just thinking about it! Dr. Knight Dunlap has stated -You must start to form good emotional habits and break the bad.
You must learn how to TURN OFF your current automatic response. The negative thoughts of worry and failure… thoughts that have become repetitive whenever any challenges arise. Those thoughs that take you down the icy sled run.
Champions in all walks of life are those who work hard toward their goals. If they slip up, they take it in stride and refocus on their goal even if that goal needs to be tweaked.
(If you would like to learn more read chapter 5 From Psycho-Cybernetics – on how to utilize the power of rational thinking.)
A few more examples to get you thinking.
- Christmas lights. You know how frustrating it is when one bad bulb will turn off the entire string. You need to find that one bad light to get the string of lights to work.
In our life, it could be a trigger of some kind, maybe a thought… location… an experience… a sound.. One negative thought can bring about a chain reaction. This can lead to overthinking! The result can be panic, anxiety, excessive worry, depression, or other forms of mental stress.
When you find the one bad light in the Christmas lights, the strand will once again work. For many people, it may be just one thought that gets the whole overthinking process cascading.
Sometimes there may be more than one bad bulb. However, persistence can lead to success. As you conquer each area of contention your new goal of overcoming overthinking draws closer and closer
- Most children learn how to ride a bike with or without training wheels. They could see themselves riding with the wind in their face, riding with friends, in other words, they visualized the result. Not the falls and scrapes along the way. Be like the child that wants to ride their new bike!
DEVELOPING CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING IS IMPORTANT IN OVERCOMING OVERTHINKING
If you concentrate on solving a problem as much as some of you worry or are anxious the answers will come. But, be aware that this type of problem-solving lies deep in the synapses in your brain. Sometimes your brain needs time to process the information. Think about it for a while and then go on with your life. Let your marvelously created brain go to work for you. This concept may be foreign to many but can be very effective.
The more creative you become, solutions may pop out at unexpected times and places. So, it is best to keep pen and paper handy to write down your revelations. As you practice positive creative problem solving you get more creative and ideas will come faster and faster.
People who overthink are usually very intelligent. But, their creative problem-solving abilities have been overrun with negativity. Think of how you were creative and successful in the past. Start to think of the moments of which you were the proudest. Sometimes you just need to remember one little thing to realize that you can do it.
We were all created with the same internal success systems in our brains. Some of them may have gotten stuck in the off position.
An irrational fear:
- As a child I had an irrational fear of calling people on the phone. Because of that, I had many missed opportunities.
I believe my dad was aware but at the time I did not know he knew of my phone anxiety. While I was in Jr high one day he asked for my help in making a business call?!! ME ! ! He explained he was running behind and needed help. He explained if I could help him get done quicker he would still have the time to take me out for the ice cream he had promised. He told me he kept getting a busy signal and needed to reach this person.
He made it like a game – We used to watch Perry Mason (an old TV show) together. He said to pretend I was an executive secretary, like Della Street.
Anxiety raced through me you all know the feeling. I picked up that phone so many times. I would pace in and out of the room. Dad was pretending to be very busy doing paperwork. I made a script…. Hello, Mr. Smith, I am calling for Mr. Louis DiGiulio could you please hold.
Well, that first day I could not make the call and we did not go out for ice cream.
Needless to say, Dad explained that the person on the other end of the phone did not know me or could not see me. As I thought of it, I begin to think this is silly. I kept telling myself it is only a phone call they do not know me. I knew what to say and I wanted to spend time with Dad and of course, I wanted ice cream….that simple phone call was worth it. I repeated this so often that I started to believe it.
It took a week or 2 to get the courage to place that first call. One day when dad was working in his office, I boldly walked up to him and asked if he wanted me to get someone on the phone. And I DID IT! He finished rather quickly and then we went out for ice cream. (As I think back I do not think any of the first calls I made were really business calls.)
Soon I was placing many calls for him and overcame this irrational fear. In fact, I got good at cold calling. A skill that has come in very handy.
… FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The phone was causing anxiety. Instead of fearing it, I learned not to carry over anxiety from day to day or phone call to phone call. I learned to be much more decisive – a call had to be made and made now – so I would do it now. I learned how not to put things off and just forge ahead.
Most importantly I learned that there was no physical danger in making that simple call. This is how you should start to think about your fears or irrational anxiety. Is there any real danger? If there is no real danger it is just an unrealistic fear
(Once I learned how to pretend I was someone else I found I could overcome anything. The Della Street thing could work for you as well.)
What does creativity look like?
- This example comes from a student: The class was given the assignment to work collectively to make a map of the European continent. While most students just cut out shapes of different countries and added some information. One creative student saw things differently! She saw Italy as a place thought of for PIZZA. So, she cut out the shape of Italy from a photograph of a slice of pizza. She did this for several other areas as well although it is difficult to see in the photo.
- A personal example: In Jr high, I had to do a paper on Rome. I did not know where to start. One day while riding my bike when I should have been writing my paper, an idea popped into my head. I ran into the house and started to sketch! What turned out was an A+ report not in the written form but as a drawing. I presented the drawing and gave an oration on every aspect of ROME TAKES ALL.
That started me on a path of creativity that served me well throughout school and beyond. I would often turn in a project with audio and or visual aids. At one time I even did an entire fashion show to back up a paper that explained that women’s fashion through the ages changed with their role in history.
DISCOVER AND USE YOUR GIFTS
Instead of overthinking about things that cause mental torment. Start to use your thinking ability for positive creative solutions.
RELATED BIBLE VERSES:
1.) But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ~ Matthew 19:26 ESV
2.) For nothing will be impossible with God. ~ Luke 1:37
3.) I can do all things through him who strengthens me. ~ Philippians 4:13
For more information read Chapter 6 in Psycho-Cybernetics. It explains how the forebrain comes into play and can lead to – Victory by Surrender and the Secret of Creative Thinking and Creative Doing.
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