Silence the mental noise

This week I want to talk to you about the mental noise going on in your life.

I understand that you are having a conversation in your head that is causing a lot of mental noise that prevents you from achieving your goals.

You know what I mean, it’s your inner chatter that comes up whenever you need to make a big decision or want to pursue something that is new or difficult for you.

The mental noise, the negative conversation you have with yourself that raises nagging thoughts of self-doubt, fear and trepidation.

These thoughts can really hamper your success…

So this week I want to share some ideas on what you can do to recognise the mental noise and then silence it, so you can move forward and overcome the negative impact this mental noise is having on your dreams.

This is important stuff that I want to share with you so you too can overcome what may have been holding you back, from taking action to take charge of your money, and your debt.

Triune Brain Theory

Before I give you some strategies to overcome the mental noise, it’s important to understand how it comes to be a part of your life.

The Triune Brain theory was developed by Dr Paul MacLean…

There is plenty of material to explore on the topic if it interests you, but for the purposes of this post, I just want to share with you the concepts to help understand how it applies to our daily life.

The first brain is the ‘Reptilian’ brain…

The reptilian brain controls the body’s vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature and balance.

The reptilian brain is reliable but tends to be somewhat rigid and compulsive.

The second is the Limbic System…

It can record memories of behaviours that produced agreeable and disagreeable experiences, so it is responsible for our emotions.

The limbic brain is the seat of the value judgments that we make, often unconsciously, that exert such a strong influence on our behaviour.

The third brain is the neocortex…

The hemispheres of the neocortex have been responsible for the development of human language, abstract thought, imagination, and consciousness.

The neocortex is flexible and has almost infinite learning capabilities.

Why the Mental Noise Occurs

From this brief overview, you can see that the mental noise is most likely coming from our Limbic System.

Interestingly, our brain is not designed to create happiness, as much as we wish it were so.

Our brain evolved to promote survival.

It saves the happy chemicals (dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin) for opportunities to meet a survival need, and only releases them in short spurts which are quickly metabolized.

This motivates us to keep taking steps that stimulate our happy chemicals.

There are a number of reasons why your brain goes negative.

The bad feeling of cortisol has its own survival purpose.

It alerts you to an obstacle on the path to meeting your needs so you can navigate your way to good feelings.

But once you do that, your brain finds the next obstacle.

You can now see why it is so hard to manage the mental noise. You are programmed to avoid painful situations…

And your money situation is something that I know you find difficult to confront.

So what can you do to overcome the mental noise and start making progress with your money and debt goals?

4 Steps to Silence the Mental Noise

Step 1: Acknowledge the Noise

What is it that is keeping you stuck or holding you back?

Is it fear, self-doubt, shame, or a fear of ridicule?

You know that taking charge of your money is something that most people don’t do. We have looked at the statistics before, only 4% of people are financially free.

This means that taking steps to improve your money situation is going to set you apart from most people in your life…

…and that is often difficult to manage.

Nobody likes to be the odd one out.

But acknowledge whatever it is that holds you back or keeps you stuck, even give it a name…

And then move on to step two as part of the plan to overcome the mental noise.

Step 2: Develop a positivity circuit

Here I want to give you a couple of ways you can create a positivity circuit.

The first is a simple step that you can use anytime the mental noise comes up, or you can develop a routine to do this step throughout your day…

The technique is simply to develop a positive affirmation…

A positive affirmation will breed positive thoughts and change the emotions emanating from your Limbic system.

An example affirmation that you could use is, “I am worthy of being financially free” or “I will be financially free in the next five years”.

Find something that resonates with you and feel the difference it makes to your mental state each time you say it to yourself.

I’ve been using affirmations for many years and know they have helped me to overcome the mental noise that used to impact my results.

If you want to read about affirmations, T. Harv Eker’s ‘Secrets of the Millionaire Mind’ is a great reference.

The second way to develop a positivity loop is spend one minute, three times a day, looking for positives in your life.

Do this for a minimum of twenty one days to build the habit.

This trains the brain to look for positives, rather than the negatives that it is designed to recognise.

Any positives, no matter how small, will build the pathway that seeks and expects positives.

It could be as simple as acknowledging that you got a seat on the bus to work today, which is often hard to do right…

Step 3: Tell a positive story

You may have heard this saying before: nothing has meaning, accept the meaning you attach to it.

When you recall your story to yourself, you have a choice…

You can tell a positive story, or a negative one.

What we know about the brain and your physical state, is that your mind, body and soul will align with this story.

It is therefore crucial that you tell a story that is going to align with what will allow you to feel your best self, and will assist you to move forward with your goals.

Combined with your affirmations, your positive story will slowly but surely overcome that mental noise that has been holding you back and keeping you stuck.

Step 4: Action

As always, to achieve anything, you need to take action.

I know I repeat this mantra a lot, but it simply comes back to the fact that nothing changes if nothing changes.

Action will get you where you want to be, the goals you desire and the dreams you have…

…And actions don’t have to be big steps, start small.

The first action could be to leave me a comment below and let me know what it is that has held you back, and let’s start changing the mental noise to a positive story.

Conclusion

When I reflect on my financial journey, understanding how to silence the mental noise would be one of the aspects that I found the hardest to master. In fact, I would say I still haven’t mastered it, I find it a daily challenge to keep the noise at bay. In recnt years it has become easier, but it does require dedication.

The lesser know second book written by Napoleon Hill called Conversations with the Devil is worth reading if you want to udnerstand the power of the mental noise and how to overcome it.

Once you silence the noise, every part of your life, not just your financial journey, will be easier, more fun and more profitable.