Use "What If" To Interrupt Your Negative Thought Patterns

Have you ever wrestled with trying to shut down negative or fearful thoughts?

Well, if you want help making it easier to “take captive every thought in obedience to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5) try Brain Hack #1 and interrupt your negative thought with a “what if.”

Every time you have a thought, understand that your brain just travelled along a pathway.

It does not matter if it is a good, bad, or ugly thought. Nor does it matter if it is a new or an old thought.

The more you repeat it the more your brain will remember until eventually it will become an automatic, unconscious thought process.

This can be in your favor like being able to remember how to comb your hair, brush your teeth, or do other things without thinking about them.

These brain pathways can also be to your disadvantage when you are trying to shut down a negative thought or self image.

This is because every time you travel along a similar negative pathway of thinking, your brain will travel that same highway of thought over and over again.

This is one of the reasons why God gives a directive to take captive every thought.

Negative thoughts used repeatedly over time will be harder to shut down because there is a direct correlation between the strength of the pathway and the frequency of use.

If you use a brain hack to interrupt the usual flow of thought, it then allows your brain to build new and healthier pathways.

To experiment with this, take one of your negative thoughts and try putting a “what if” in it. Experience how it both feels and sounds different.

If you can’t think of any here are three examples to get you started.

1. You constantly feel like you have failed God and that He is disappointed in you. By adding the “what if” you now get to say, “but what if God is not disappointed in me?”
2. “I can’t do it” changes to “but what if I can?”
3. “I am a failure” changes to “but what if I’m not a failure?”

By consistently working with the “what if…” to interrupt your negative thought process, you will find that your hard and fast negative thought patterns will shift easier than you imagined.

This will really be to your advantage if you are wanting a better self-image, or you need to get past some limited thinking restricting you from going forward.

Make sure if you liked Brain Hack #1, to check back in a couple weeks’ time for Brain Hack #2 focused on motivating your brain to let go of negative beliefs about yourself.

Also, be sure to purchase my “21 Day Detox” course today to gain an even greater understanding of taking control over those negative belief systems.