I am sure you must have encountered someone in your life who you idolize. That someone kills almost everything they do in life. They demonstrate high strength, resilience, and overcome whatever comes their way. We consider them as exceptional beings, who are born and wired much differently. We see them running marathons one after the other while we struggle to finish our bi-weekly yoga practice.
I agree, it may seem that you are far apart, but it is not true. They are as human as you are. They may have different habits and neurological mapping, but considering you can not possibly catch up with them is wrong. Know that all your negative thoughts won’t turn into a rainbow. You need to have a realization and make efforts to redirect.
Source of negative thoughts
What if I tell you that there lives a Chimp inside you, not just you, inside everyone. Whenever we feel emotionally overwhelmed, all over the place or out of sorts, there are high chances that the chimp inside us is freely jumping in our subconscious. Roaming like the ruler of the jungle, doing everything from calling shots to pushing all the buttons and triggers. If you try and recall, you have seen people when the chimp inside them goes all rogue. People rampaging, fighting for toilet papers, swearing while driving, and in the worst-case scenario, shooting other people.
People who you idolize are the ones who learned to train their chimps and work harmoniously with it. Like army commander commanding its soldiers. This is a very important thing to learn, and the first step towards learning is acknowledging the presence of the chimp and knowing it is there to help.
Why do you have a Chimp?
The very concept of Chimp was given by Prof. Steve Peters in his book called Chimp Paradox. It explains how a Chimp (a part of your sub-conscious) can either be your best friend or even your arch-nemesis. It is referred to as paradox as it is the reason why people feel happy and also the reason why many of us suffer from mental well being. Prof. Steve emphasized in his book that Chimp is separate from our rationalizing and logical brain as if we have 2 brains:
One of them is virtually automatic and thinks for us without our input and is based on emotion. The other is under our control and allows us to think, as we want to. The trouble is that these two ’brains’ do not think the same way and they do not typically agree on the interpretation of what is going on.
Prof. Steve Peter
How to deal with your Chimp and the negative thoughts
Now that you are aware of your negative thoughts and where they come from. It is time we learn the following four techniques to tame the chimp that lives in us.
1. Be cognizant of your negative beliefs
The best way of doing it is by peeping into our past and childhood to be specific. Trying to figure out why you are not good enough at something. Could be why you hate pubic speaking, why you face difficulty in making new friends, or why you don’t feel happy when you should be happy. Going in the subconscious can help you a lot in figuring out where and when negative thoughts got picked up.
2. Acknowledge your thoughts as they enter
Be mindful of all your thoughts that enter your mind. Practice meditation to keep yourself more aware. The best way to do this is by throwing logic to your negative thoughts, anxious feeling, etc. The moment you begin to question your existing believes, you start taking control over in your hands.
3. Dictate how you want things to be
Since you know what you want and what you do not want, make sure you get clarity about it. Put it in good words, show your self pictures and it will listen. Make sure you repeat it often and with clarity.
4. Stay Consistent
It may take time for you to see some changes, be patient, and have confidence in yourself. It can take a few weeks to experience neurological changes. If you feel stressed, anxious, or experience panic attacks practice deep breathing exercises and meditation.
