Move that Elephant!

Your brain is an amazing organ! But then you probably already knew that. What if I told you, that your subconscious is like an Elephant and your conscious, or actively thinking brain is like an ant. You want your ant to go east, but your elephant is going west. How can you turn that elephant around so that your ant will go in the direction you want it to?

It all comes down to one activity. It’s what your ant tells your elephant!

Your subconscious will believe anything you tell it. Say, “I’m fat.” long enough and no matter what diet you’re on, how much you exercise, or how well you eat, if you look in the mirror and tell yourself you can’t lose weight, your brain says, “You’re right.” And will hang onto every fat cell.

So how do you change that? It’s simple, really. Look in the mirror and say, “Wow, look at that healthy girl,” or “Don’t you look thin today.” Whatever it is you tell that person looking back at you, your brain wants to believe it.

I’m sure you’ve heard of positive affirmations. Well, guess what, tell yourself those positive things long enough, and even if your conscious brain doesn’t believe it, soon, you will.

How many times have you been talking to someone and you can’t remember the name of someone you’re discussing, and so you say, “I can’t remember his name.” Well guess what, your elephant says, “Nope, you’re not going to remember.” I’ve switched how I phrase that. I’ll say, “Give me a sec and I’ll remember.” Every. Single. Time. I do that, my brain gets to work to bring that name to my conscious. When I hear people say, “I can’t remember…”, I’ll stop them have them repeat, “Give me a sec and I’ll remember.” IT WORKS! EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!

I used to teach high school English, and most every day, I’d have a writing prompt on the board, and every day, I’d have one or two students say, “I can’t think of anything to write.” Guess what? They couldn’t write because that was their Elephant taking over. For those students, I’d say, write this at the top of your page. “I have something brilliant to say.” Again Every. Single. Time. Their pens would start flying across the page, even my students who hated writing.

So for the next twenty-one days (because it takes 21 days to build a hapbit), what truths are you going to tell your brain?

My “truths” I’m telling myself this week:

• I am successful (I’m writing in my planner what that looks like)
• I am healthy.
• My pancreas is healed.
• I draw people around me who help me reach my goals.
• I’m excited to start my week with my new planner!
• Look at all the tasks I complete this week!

Notice how I’m phrasing things in present tense? That’s because your subconscious lives in the moment.

Sometimes at night, I’ll be stuck on a problem (mostly writing related) and I’ll tell my brain, “Hey, Elephant, how should I approach this? Get to work on it while I sleep and give me an answer in the morning.” I know of people who say, “If I don’t write it down, it’s lost.” That’s because your Elephant just believed that. Start telling yourself, “I have this great idea. I can hardly wait to get started on it.

One more word of encouragement for your Elephant. Use positive words! Don’t say, “I’m NOT fat.” For some reason, your brain will skip over the not part of the sentence. Have you ever said, “Don’t drop that, don’t forget to, or don’t be late” and that’s exactly what happens. My son dropped the watermelon, I forgot to make that call, and yes, I was late for that appointment.

Instead, say, “Carry that in carefully, remember to call the doctor’s office, I’m heading out the door five minutes early.”

So, my question to you… What are you going to tell your Elephant?

*Notes taken from this book: