I’ve been reading a book on NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming – and it has me thinking a lot about my inner dialogue and how I remember shitty memories.
It’s the first book I’ve read on the topic, so I’m no generalist yet, but it definitely has me reframing my thought patterns. Whether I’m doing so correctly, I’m not sure yet, but I’m trying.
Most recently I tried a technique in response to a stupid error I made in trading that cost me $250. I didn’t do enough research, I acted on emotion, and it cost me a good chunk of change.
I was pretty upset at first. I beat myself up a lot after the fact asking “Why are you so stupid?!” and calling myself a lot of names. But I realized there was nothing I could do about it now except to accept it and learn from it. To do that, I wanted to change the memory so it would no longer bring emotions of hurt and annoyance, but instead emotions of acceptance and even humor.
So I used an NLP method of manipulating how the memory appears in my mind by altering the filters I placed on it. I won’t go into much detail, but basically when I think of the memory now, I think of myself as the Spongebob meme saying “oH wHat A gOod DeAL ThiS iS! I beTeR bUy a BunCh!”
Now when I think of the moment, I chuckle to myself and I move on.
This moment makes me realize how powerful our thoughts are. It tells me we each have the ability to view the world in ways that benefit us and keep us on a focused path towards our goals. It makes me want to learn as much as I can about NLP and test any and all methods I read about.
So I’ll leave you with this: you can choose how you view every memory and you can choose how you view the present moment. Make the choice to focus on what’s important and don’t let any seemingly “bad” moments prevent you from moving forward.
January 5, 2022
