A.N.T. is an acronym for Automatic Negative Thoughts. Recently, I listened to a podcast with Dr. Shannon Irvine who was discussing the neuroscience behind it all.
The big question was… “Are our brains wired for success or not?”
The answer for some of us is yes, but for others, it’s the exact opposite. Some people are fortunate enough to have been ‘wired’ since birth to be successful. Their parents most likely created an environment that was conducive to personal growth and development. Unfortunately, many people are raised by parents that, through no fault of their own, were never exposed to the principles of success by their parents, nor their parents by their parents before them.
The truth is that we are who we are and where we are because of what has gone into our minds!
Dr. Irvine said, "If you're not where you want to be, it's because there's an automation embedded in between your own two ears that's not serving you.” And the thing is, you’re probably not even conscious of the fact that that particular automation was programmed into your subconscious mind many many years ago; and without your permission!
The first thing you need to understand is that it's not your fault. As a child you don’t really have a say as to what you are exposed to. But the good news is, that if you don’t like an automation that is holding you back, you can send it packing!
Throughout your childhood, teens and early adulthood, your brain takes in information, whether it be good or bad, and over time the brain accepts what it receives as truth. And for the rest of your life it continues to automatically serve up the same conditioned thoughts and beliefs. If those thoughts and beliefs aren’t consistent with those of a successful person, you will remain bound. The good news is that the brain is malleable; in other words, you can rewire it!
Here are the four steps you’ll need to take to begin the process.
Think about it as if you were an attorney; how would you argue this point? How would you prove that the limiting belief you’ve identified isn’t true? This exercise makes me think of my daughter's fiancé. He's actually in law school and is actively practicing the art of creating persuasive arguments around things like this. I told him, “Listen, if you plan on becoming my son-in-law someday, I don't care what argument you come up with. You can't win with me, but good try anyway” LOL! But you get the idea, the idea is to become conscious of the limiting belief that is holding back. You then write it down and proceed to put it on trial, just like an attorney would. Then you're going to refute the idea until you convince your mind that that belief is completely and utterly false. It’s been holding you back for years and it needs to go!
In order to create a new neural pathway in your brain, you’ll need to begin the rewiring process. By priming your brain with your new empowered belief your new thoughts will begin to fire together and wire together. Like anything else, it will take daily consistent action until your thoughts develop into a new pattern that runs on autopilot within your subconscious.
My wife and I were discussing some of the limiting beliefs that were instilled in us as children. As were talking she commented, "Anthony Robbins said something very similar to this. He said that if you sit down quietly for about 10 minutes, 90% of the things that you think about, or that pass through your mind, will be negative." I thought to myself, "Is that true? Is that really true?" I need to put this to the test.” Give it a try. Sit quietly for 10 minutes and see what thoughts present themselves. Don’t try to control your thoughts, just acknowledge them and note when one of your passing thoughts is of a negative nature.
Becoming a conscious observer of your own thoughts is truly the first step in “Killing the A.N.T.s.”
The late, great Zig Ziglar said "You are who you are and what you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change who you are and what you are by changing what goes into your mind."
So if you think back to your childhood, maybe your parents were successful business owners so you learned what it was like to own a business and owning a business of your own someday would seem quite natural. Or maybe you were conditioned to think that going to school and getting good grades would lead to getting a “decent job” with benefits. Because that’s what your parents did right?!. In both scenarios you were conditioned to believe “how to things work in the world” based on the conditioning your parents had received in their formative years.
One of the things that I’ve come to believe is that it’s absolutely critical to surround yourself with people that are living the kind of life that you want, need and deserve instead of letting someone else write your story for you. Guard the door to your mind as if your life depended on it, because it does! Stay away from the excuse makers, complainers and fault finders.
Feed your mind daily with the good, the clean, the pure and the positive. Avoid listening to the news, it’s an industry that profits by bringing attention to everything that's wrong with the world. Instead, spend 15 minutes each day reading something that will help you grow into the person you’d like to become.
Here’s a book recommendation to get you started. Back in 2008 I read a book titled You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor. I remembered what an impact it had on me so I thought I’d share a specific paragraph from the book that helped me “wake up” to my true potential.
Before I do, I wanted to share a cool story. In 2019 I had a speaking engagement at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. As I was headed to the conference room, I walked past a store in the hotel lobby. Bob Proctor, the author go the book, walked out at exactly same moment and we literally ran into each other. When I realized who it was I said “Man, you're Bob Proctor aren't you?" He said, "Yes, I am." I replied “I’m a big fan. Several years ago I read your book You Were Born Rich and there was one specific paragraph that really struck me." So I shared it with him. Without even missing a beat, he said, “Son, if you loved my book, you'll love my course. What's your number? I’ll have my assistant send you the link.” I got a big kick out of how quick he was with his masterful response. It had obviously been well rehearsed and programmed into his subconscious during his 85 years on Earth.
Here is the paragraph and affirmation that I wanted to share with you…
[Insert Your Name], You are a child of God and the being God made was never intended for the sort of weak negative life you are leading. God made you for success, not failure. God never made anyone to be a failure. You are perverting the great object of your existence by giving way to these miserable doubts of yourself, of your ability to be what you desire with all your heart to be. You should be ashamed to go out amongst your associates with a long, sad dejected face as though you were a misfit, as though you lacked creative power within, and as though you did not have the ability to do what your creator sent you here to do.
You were made to express what you long to express. Why not do this? Why not stand and walk like a conqueror? Like David who slew Goliath? Instead of giving way to discouragement and doubt and carrying on like a failure. The image of perfection, the image of your creator lies within you. You must bring it to the center of your conscious thought and express it to the world. Don't disgrace your maker by violating that image by being everything but the magnificent success God intended you to be.
This affirmation still gives me goosebumps every time I read it. So if you're in a place right now where you’re “stuck in neutral” I would strongly suggest that you take an inventory of your thoughts, beliefs and habits. Then complete the four steps we discussed earlier…
The big question was… “Are our brains wired for success or not?”
The answer for some of us is yes, but for others, it’s the exact opposite. Some people are fortunate enough to have been ‘wired’ since birth to be successful. Their parents most likely created an environment that was conducive to personal growth and development. Unfortunately, many people are raised by parents that, through no fault of their own, were never exposed to the principles of success by their parents, nor their parents by their parents before them.
The truth is that we are who we are and where we are because of what has gone into our minds!
Dr. Irvine said, "If you're not where you want to be, it's because there's an automation embedded in between your own two ears that's not serving you.” And the thing is, you’re probably not even conscious of the fact that that particular automation was programmed into your subconscious mind many many years ago; and without your permission!
The first thing you need to understand is that it's not your fault. As a child you don’t really have a say as to what you are exposed to. But the good news is, that if you don’t like an automation that is holding you back, you can send it packing!
Throughout your childhood, teens and early adulthood, your brain takes in information, whether it be good or bad, and over time the brain accepts what it receives as truth. And for the rest of your life it continues to automatically serve up the same conditioned thoughts and beliefs. If those thoughts and beliefs aren’t consistent with those of a successful person, you will remain bound. The good news is that the brain is malleable; in other words, you can rewire it!
Here are the four steps you’ll need to take to begin the process.
- 1.The first step is become conscious of the limiting belief(s) that is sabotaging your success. Ask yourself, “Is my current belief about _________________ serving me or is it holding me back?
- 2.Once you become consciously aware of a thought, habit or behavior that may be limiting you, now you can do something about it. But in order for you to do something about it, the first thing you’ll need to do is commit it to paper. So the first step is become conscious of it and then write it down.
- 3.Step number three is to put your limiting belief on trial and find it guilty of being untrue!
- 4.Once you have found that the limiting belief buried in your subconscious is untrue, you can now begin the rewiring process and prime your brain with a new, empowered belief.
Think about it as if you were an attorney; how would you argue this point? How would you prove that the limiting belief you’ve identified isn’t true? This exercise makes me think of my daughter's fiancé. He's actually in law school and is actively practicing the art of creating persuasive arguments around things like this. I told him, “Listen, if you plan on becoming my son-in-law someday, I don't care what argument you come up with. You can't win with me, but good try anyway” LOL! But you get the idea, the idea is to become conscious of the limiting belief that is holding back. You then write it down and proceed to put it on trial, just like an attorney would. Then you're going to refute the idea until you convince your mind that that belief is completely and utterly false. It’s been holding you back for years and it needs to go!
In order to create a new neural pathway in your brain, you’ll need to begin the rewiring process. By priming your brain with your new empowered belief your new thoughts will begin to fire together and wire together. Like anything else, it will take daily consistent action until your thoughts develop into a new pattern that runs on autopilot within your subconscious.
My wife and I were discussing some of the limiting beliefs that were instilled in us as children. As were talking she commented, "Anthony Robbins said something very similar to this. He said that if you sit down quietly for about 10 minutes, 90% of the things that you think about, or that pass through your mind, will be negative." I thought to myself, "Is that true? Is that really true?" I need to put this to the test.” Give it a try. Sit quietly for 10 minutes and see what thoughts present themselves. Don’t try to control your thoughts, just acknowledge them and note when one of your passing thoughts is of a negative nature.
Becoming a conscious observer of your own thoughts is truly the first step in “Killing the A.N.T.s.”
The late, great Zig Ziglar said "You are who you are and what you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change who you are and what you are by changing what goes into your mind."
So if you think back to your childhood, maybe your parents were successful business owners so you learned what it was like to own a business and owning a business of your own someday would seem quite natural. Or maybe you were conditioned to think that going to school and getting good grades would lead to getting a “decent job” with benefits. Because that’s what your parents did right?!. In both scenarios you were conditioned to believe “how to things work in the world” based on the conditioning your parents had received in their formative years.
One of the things that I’ve come to believe is that it’s absolutely critical to surround yourself with people that are living the kind of life that you want, need and deserve instead of letting someone else write your story for you. Guard the door to your mind as if your life depended on it, because it does! Stay away from the excuse makers, complainers and fault finders.
Feed your mind daily with the good, the clean, the pure and the positive. Avoid listening to the news, it’s an industry that profits by bringing attention to everything that's wrong with the world. Instead, spend 15 minutes each day reading something that will help you grow into the person you’d like to become.
Here’s a book recommendation to get you started. Back in 2008 I read a book titled You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor. I remembered what an impact it had on me so I thought I’d share a specific paragraph from the book that helped me “wake up” to my true potential.
Before I do, I wanted to share a cool story. In 2019 I had a speaking engagement at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. As I was headed to the conference room, I walked past a store in the hotel lobby. Bob Proctor, the author go the book, walked out at exactly same moment and we literally ran into each other. When I realized who it was I said “Man, you're Bob Proctor aren't you?" He said, "Yes, I am." I replied “I’m a big fan. Several years ago I read your book You Were Born Rich and there was one specific paragraph that really struck me." So I shared it with him. Without even missing a beat, he said, “Son, if you loved my book, you'll love my course. What's your number? I’ll have my assistant send you the link.” I got a big kick out of how quick he was with his masterful response. It had obviously been well rehearsed and programmed into his subconscious during his 85 years on Earth.
Here is the paragraph and affirmation that I wanted to share with you…
[Insert Your Name], You are a child of God and the being God made was never intended for the sort of weak negative life you are leading. God made you for success, not failure. God never made anyone to be a failure. You are perverting the great object of your existence by giving way to these miserable doubts of yourself, of your ability to be what you desire with all your heart to be. You should be ashamed to go out amongst your associates with a long, sad dejected face as though you were a misfit, as though you lacked creative power within, and as though you did not have the ability to do what your creator sent you here to do.
You were made to express what you long to express. Why not do this? Why not stand and walk like a conqueror? Like David who slew Goliath? Instead of giving way to discouragement and doubt and carrying on like a failure. The image of perfection, the image of your creator lies within you. You must bring it to the center of your conscious thought and express it to the world. Don't disgrace your maker by violating that image by being everything but the magnificent success God intended you to be.
This affirmation still gives me goosebumps every time I read it. So if you're in a place right now where you’re “stuck in neutral” I would strongly suggest that you take an inventory of your thoughts, beliefs and habits. Then complete the four steps we discussed earlier…
- 1.Become conscious of your limiting beliefs
- 2.Write them down
- 3.Put them on trial
- 4.Rewire and prime your brain with your new empowered beliefs