“I can’t do this.”
Ever catch yourself thinking that phrase?
When I was three years old, my mom heard me say it.
Her response?
“From this moment on, you’re not ‘Cristy I can’t.’ You’re ‘Cristy I can.'”
I looked at her, my eyes big around, and asked, “I am?”
It was like she gave me permission to think, “I can do this.”
Those “I can’t” thoughts sneak in. “Why can’t I remember this?” “Why can’t I get this right?” Most of the time you don’t realize you’re thinking them.
Those thoughts are self-fulling prophecies.
The more you ask, “Why can’t I remember this,” the harder it is to remember what you’re trying to remember.
If you keep focusing on what you can’t do, and just accept it as fact, it becomes and stays fact.
Next time you catch yourself thinking about what you can’t do, rephrase it to an I-can statement.
Instead of, “Why can’t I remember this,” think, “Why CAN I remember this?”
What happens when you focus thoughts on what you want instead of what you don’t want is gonna seem magical.
I’m really blessed Mom set me straight on this at age three. The mindset that I CAN do something I want to do has helped me find success and happiness.
None of it came easily. But it did come, because I believed it would, and that belief helped me power through the tough times.
And when tough times come again (which they do – they’re a part of life), that same belief of “I can” makes all the difference.
What we think about is what happens. So replace thoughts of what you don’t want with thoughts of what you do want.