How my mindset influences my skillset

“I am such a looser.” “Everyone else gets the tasks done – but I am again running detours.” “Of course, this bad luck happened to me. As always.”

Do you know any of this negative self talk? If you ever say these sentences aloud, chances are high that your inner talk is filled with messages of self-doubt.

Have you ever wondered why you think this way? Our brain is amazing: once we start thinking certain messages, our brain learns that we need this information and builds its network accordingly. It gives us quick access to certain thoughts until they become routines and we need less energy to access them.

Unfortunately, if we train our brain to think we are a looser, our brain wires this thought pattern aswell. We have very quick access to this inner highway to hell. As soon as something bad happens, our automatic routines confirm that this has happened because we are a looser.

May I ask: how well did a negative thought pattern serve you in living a fulfilled happy life? How well did it serve you in being successful at work?

Chances are high that negative thoughts play out in your behavior and consequently skills aswell. If you are inwardly convinced that you do a bad job, always have bad luck or you are not worthy of anything good in your life, it will be visible in the way to talk and interact with people.

If you realize that negative thought patterns automized themselves in your brain and they don’t serve you well, there is hope. The same mechanism that pushes you on the negative brain trail can be used to build affirmative thought patterns.

How is that possible?

First you need to realize your current thought patterns. Pick one that you would like to change, e.g. “I am a looser”.

Now start thinking about affirming new thoughts, e.g. “I am a skilled person.” Or “It is good for my colleagues to have me in the team.”

Whenever you feel like running into your old thought pattern, actively choose to think differently. Speak to yourself inwardly. It will feel strange in the beginning – like learning a new movement at sports. But as your brain gets used to the new thoughts, it will develop new pathways. And the positive thinking patterns will have an effect on your behavior and skills aswell.