The Thought Diet
A prescription for our times
If you were overweight and felt bad about yourself you would reach a point where you would say “I am tired of this- I am tired of my low energy and being like this. I am going to workout and go on a diet.”
You would change your thinking which would change your behavior, which would change your life.
As a professional speaker, I travel almost every week. Lately on planes, everyone, I mean everyone I talk to is commiserating about the 1) The recession 2) The low sales 3) The layoffs 4) Uncertainty.
5) Blah blah blah.
The T.V. nightly “bluescast” is full of bad news, and over the top hype about the “worst economy since the depression.” They only show the bad news not the good.
The daily newspaper is filled with doom and gloom.
I am so tired of hearing it! Don’t get me wrong I am not unsympathetic. I am. I know some industries are hurting.
O.K. – so what is the point? If you want to stay positive in this rough and tumble economy, you need to do something, we need to do something. What can you do? Seize control. Take the horns. Get proactive. Be in charge. Take action. How?
I know you are an executive, and smart, but have you every thought about how you are thinking these days? Seriously how is your thinking? Are you feeling beat up?
Time to put yourself on a thought diet for 30 days. What the heck is a thought diet? Never heard of it? That is because it is a new revolutionary concept I created and I am offering to you as my gift.
A thought diet is like a diet with food except I want you to control your mental food/input. So here are the key rules and components of your thought diet for the next 30 days:
Rule #1: Make the commitment- for the next 30 days, I want you to commit to your Thought Diet, because I believe you can change your way of thinking. When you change your way of thinking you change your life and those around you because you change your actions. People will actually wonder what you are up to. Besides what do you have to lose? Maybe I am crazy, maybe I am punchy, maybe I am right- who knows? If I am right -there is no real risk. Just make a commitment.
Rule #2: No negative T.V and limit T.V. to one hour.- I am asking you to put in place a 30 day ban on any negative T.V Show. That includes the news shows, reality T.V shows (where they scream at one another) and shows that are violent. This input has a very deleterious affect on you mentally, more than you know. Part II of the rule; only one hour of television each night. According to research, the average American watches 38.5 hours of T.V. each week, and believe it or not, ten years of T.V. in their lifetime. Way to much (and we wonder why we are negative.)
Rule #3: Limit exposure to negative people- During the Thought Diet, limit your contact to negative people for 30 days. There are friends and relatives and acquaintances who you know that always have something negative to say. You do not need your negative grinding toxicity. Stay away from them or limit contact. Caution: you may love this so much, you may make it permanent. Conversely, spend more time being around the people in your life who are positive upbeat and energetic. You know what happens- it’s contagious. One evening around a positive person can be a real rocket boost!
Rule #4: Reconnect to the joy- In negative times people tend to limit or cut back on activities that bring them joy. What is your joy? Think about things that bring you joy that you have given up or haven’t done for a long time. I play the drums. Due to many circumstances I didn’t play for twenty years. Then on a whim I walked into a music store and tried out a set of electronic drums. I reconnected to a sense of pure joy. I now have a new drum set at home at home.
Rule #5: Exercise- You may already know this, but when you work out, a whole bunch of natural chemicals are released into your body. Endorphins, adrenalin and many others are pumped into your system and they are all uppers, and all legal and free. Talk a walk, lift some weight, move.
Rule #6: Expose yourself to positive materials- read books (you now have time now remember-you cut out the T.V. time). Pick out positive non fiction, inspiring biographies or any kind of reading that is positive. Listen to positive audio CD’s, or high energy music. Watch inspirational movies. You will get a lift.
Rule #7: Don’t allow anyone to talk to you in negative ways- When a team member wants to complain, whine or bellyache, don’t be part of it. Stop them in their tracks by asking a key question “So I understand the situation what are you going to do about it?” You see complaining has no inherent value. It is destructive and meaningless.
Don’t be part of it.
So that is the Thought Diet. Start it tomorrow. Post this page where you can see it daily for the next 30 days.
After all you can’t control the economy or the banks, or home sales. In fact you can’t control the world, only your reaction to it, and all that happens between your ears.