{"id":6313,"date":"2011-05-20T21:27:23","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T05:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=6313"},"modified":"2013-09-09T14:50:38","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T22:50:38","slug":"are-your-talking-yourself-into-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/are-your-talking-yourself-into-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Talking Yourself Into Failure?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A couple of days ago I watched a fascinating You Tube clip about mantras. Mantras are the things you say to yourself in your head, over and over again \u2013 and they have the power to impact how you feel and act in the short term, which ultimately impacts how your life turns out in the long run.<\/p>\n

The clip I watched was presented by Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project, and you can view it over here (http:\/\/www.happiness-project.com\/happiness_project\/2011\/05\/re-evaluate-your-mantras.html<\/a>). Gretchen spoke about some of the mantras affecting her life, and I could straight away relate. I think you might as well. For example, how often have you said to yourself something like the following?<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no self-control\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so busy, I don\u2019t have time for that\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so disorganized\u201d<\/p>\n

All the time, right? And you\u2019re not alone. It\u2019s human nature to be tough on yourself, most of the time. Inherently I think this comes from the fact that we are driven to constantly improve ourselves and excel at most things we do. There\u2019s just one teensy little problem with coupling this inherent drive with modern-day living, and I\u2019ll be this one will come as no surprise \u2013<\/p>\n

You\u2019re trying to do too much, you\u2019re trying to be too many things, and you\u2019re trying to have more than you need.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Put it all together and you have a sure-fire recipe for overwhelm. It\u2019s no wonder you can\u2019t get out of the vicious thought cycle in your own mind for long enough to actually take massive action and feel successful or happy!<\/p>\n

Gretchen, whose book The Happiness Project (http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Happiness-Project-Morning-Aristotle-Generally\/dp\/0061583251<\/a>) is currently #1 on the New York Times list for the second week in a row, says that changing your mantra can dramatically impact the way you feel and the way you live your life. If you think about it, this means that changing the little things you say to yourself \u2013 those small attacks or undermining statements that you barely even register \u2013 can actually influence how successful you are in achieving your big goals dreams.<\/p>\n

Does that scare you a little bit? It sure as heck scares me, particularly when I think back over some of the things I\u2019ve said to myself just this past month or so:<\/p>\n