Treat Your Brain Like a Google Search
Here are some common things my clients tell me as if they’re facts:
I don’t know what to do.
I need to get my shit together.
I’m afraid I’m making a mistake.
This is hard.
This is complicated.
I can’t have it all.
Every single one of those statements is a thought, not a fact.
But I know: they FEEL so true. And when you’re in the middle of really, really believing one of these thoughts, it can feel impossible to think anything else.
Here’s what I want you to do in those moments:
Don’t force it.
Instead, enter the opposite statement into your brain as if it’s a google search.
You don’t have to believe the thought.
The amazing thing about your automatic brain is that it will always consider any statement you give it.
It may not believe it. But it will still do an an exploratory “what if?” search in your brain to SEE if it could be true.
So put one of these statements in your mental search bar and give your brain a few minutes to load the results.
I know exactly what to do.
I’m so on top of things.
I’m making the right decision.
This is easy.
This is simple.
Of course I can have it all.
When you let the “search results” load in your brain, you will get a totally different perspective on the problem.
So often, we start our problem-solving with an unhelpful premise.
We start out just believing that things are uncertain, messy, risky, hard, complicated, and full of trade-offs.
And then we problem-solve AROUND those obstacles as if they were just the truth of the world.
But they’re not! They’re just thoughts. They’re just one perspective that your brain will color the whole world with if you let it.
What if that perspective is wrong?
What if it’s: Clear? Easy? Simple? Low stakes? Easily resolved?
And you just can’t see it because you started with the assumption that it’s not?
Take off your “this is hard” sunglasses.
Put on your “this is easy” sunglasses.
And then go solve the problem.
The moments when you most need to do this are also the moments when it’s most difficult to do this.
Because the moments when you most need to question your default perspective are also the moments when…
Your nervous system will be highly activated
Your emotions will cloud your judgment
Your thoughts will seem very, very true
That’s why you need a coach.
To point this out to you when it’s happening.
To show you, again and again, that your thoughts are thoughts — not facts.
To ask, show, teach, and demonstrate a hundred different ways that you could think about this differently.
And most importantly of all, to teach you the skill of working with your own brain so you can catch it, question it, nudge it in the right direction, and have so much fun building the life you actually want.
Let’s get started.
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