Last Updated on 04/25/2023 by Glynn Willard
Controlling your thoughts begins with differentiating the types of thoughts you have.
It’s difficult to offer a solution on how to control your thoughts without first understanding our types of thoughts.
This article is a great starting place for how to control your mind from unwanted thoughts.
So, bottom line. Can we control our thoughts? You bet we can!
Read on…
How To Control Mind From Unwanted Thoughts
Your choice of either positive or negative thoughts shapes your entire life.
That’s a generalized statement with many layers.
Let’s tear the layers apart and go over the types of thoughts that we should learn about.
They are fear, faith, indecision and giving. Albeit, giving may not be thought based, but the action of giving helps shape other thoughts.
I understand this is a tall order and there are many ways to attack mastering our thoughts.
But we as humans have only one true control in this universe. Our thoughts!
So, doesn’t it make sense to get them under control?
I know, this is easier said than done. Breaking this down to fundamentals will help initiate some control over your thoughts.
Like I said, you need to first understand your thoughts before you can control your mind from negative thoughts.
How To Control My Thoughts: Fear
Let’s start with one of the most debilitating thought patterns, fear.
As you go through your day, try to recognize if you’re making decisions based on fear or a potential catastrophe.
If this is the case, once you lasso those thoughts in, try replacing them with potential positive outcomes.
Think about it. What are some of the most powerful fears?
The first that comes to mind because they’ve burdened me for so long are fear of ill health, loss of financial ability and criticism.
You see, our mind/who we are is merely the sum of our thoughts, of which we have total control.
The sum of my thoughts really held me back during several periods of my life.
Can you make a similar statement?
Let Me Tell You A Story About Fear
Our youngest son, Zach had such a debilitating croup cough whenever he had a cold, he ended up in the emergency room because his breathing was so labored. EVERY TIME.
At one point, he had a febrile seizure while we were driving. Fortunately, that only happened once. He also has an anaphylactic response to some tree nuts.
After years of this, Rose and I found ourselves living in constant fear about his health.
On top of that, our medical bills were in the tens of thousands.
This compounded on itself only to amplify our fear more. For me, it was the double whammy of “my son’s sick and it will drain my savings.”
It’s easy to see how these two mindsets can cripple people preventing their own reset.
We knew we were living in fear about Zach’s health and our medical bills.
So, we did what we knew would work for us and what we could control.
Rose was always prepared with every remedy from a nebulizer to epi pens.
I figured out where we could take Zach for good treatment that was the least expensive based on our insurance.
In other words, we always had a plan. This helped, but it was still difficult not to live in fear.
But even a quick analysis of our thoughts easily discloses the blanket of fear still in existence, although it’s a much lighter blanket now.
Why, because we have faith in our abilities to manage any issues that Zach throws our way.
He’s also growing out of a lot of the issues. In hindsight, he’s forced us to do some “growing.”
Another Story About Controlling Fear Thoughts
More recently, when we started our full time RV adventure, I was filled with thoughts of fear.
All leading to dangerous situations and financial ruin.
Fortunately, I vetoed those and allowed the thoughts to flow toward all the things we were going to discover, all the friends we will make, all the memories we will share and all the new things we will learn.
That certainly kept my thoughts away from fear and more about the faith in myself and my family.
Controlling Fear Based Thoughts Continued
A negative or fear based mindset will always get in the way of success and happiness (especially happiness).
Remember, your limitations are mentally self fabricated. Read that again.
Your limitations are mentally self fabricated.
Shoot, one could go as far as stating that fear paralyzes independent thought!
Apply that last statement to the media and politics. Agree or disagree, I just wanted to throw that out there.
For me, slashing fear based thoughts was my most difficult attribute to master.
Once you reset your beliefs, you’ll reset your status.
Which mode is currently dictating your life, scarcity and panic or faith in yourself?
I’ll say this one last time (maybe).
All of your limitations are self-fabricated.
You are in charge of how you respond to external circumstances, period.
No one else can control your thoughts and responses.
And that my friend is a superpower once you fully embrace this reality. But you have to exercise this superpower.
It’s so easy to slip back into a fear based mindset if you stop trying. Especially if it was manifested during your childhood.
Basing your emotional state on the fear of something that happened in the past.
So many potential positive outcomes!
Takeaway: Focus on potential positive outcomes rather than fearing potential negative outcomes.
How To Control My Thoughts: Faith
When I use the word faith, I’m not referring to the religious connotation.
Instead, I’m talking about accepting that YOU are capable of more than you realize and your successes will build confidence.
This acceptance leads to a faith in oneself or the “life systems” you build.
We always had a saying at my prior business, Paradigm Fitness.
“Everything always works out at Paradigm.” Get it? Works out, like it all worked out and we’re working out…”
Okay, fine. Not the best joke, but you get my point.
We had faith that every complication the universe threw our way would work out because we would take the necessary steps.
And guess what? We did and it did!
So build faith in yourself that you will take the necessary steps whenever the universe throws you a challenge.
Take a few minutes every day to visualize the future you want for you and your family. Rehearse this over and over.
I realize this is something that is stated in every “self help” book, but it’s a legitimate suggestion.
It takes very little effort, helps to reset neural loops and really works.
This is something I like to do as I start my breathing exercises, which lead to meditation first thing in the morning.
Try this: in your phone notes, write “visualize the future I want for a few minutes each day.” And set it to remind you daily.
Takeaway: Learn to have faith that you can and will overcome any situation.
How To Control My Thoughts: Indecision
Indecision is crippling and it prevents a lot of successes!
Take action even if it’s not a perfect action.
We’ve all heard of “paralysis by analysis.” I’ve seen this “paralysis” cripple people who I know could have accomplished so much more if they had just taken action.
It’s similar to the unsuccessful YouTuber who takes forever perfecting his videos and uploads sporadically.
And then there’s the successful Youtuber who consistently posts “imperfect” videos and gains traction quickly.
This is applicable in business and life.
Takeaway: Simply take action even if it’s imperfect action.
Wrapping Up: How To Control Your Mind From Unwanted Thoughts
Clearly, we need to learn to recognize the types of thoughts we have.
Once we can see some of these patterns in our current thinking, it becomes easier to approach a change.
You can master fear, faith, giving and indecision. But it will take time and a conscious effort.
Start right now!
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