Your 4 Super Powers! How to take control of your thoughts & emotions.

Did you know you have 4 SuperPowers? 4 of the most amazing super powers, you use them every day, but may have never realised their power.

You have 2 inner powers: thoughts and feelings, and 2 outer powers: speech and behaviour. Your two inner powers are the keys that influence your outer powers and your results.

When you fully realise that these are your powers, yours alone, you gain an incredible sense of your power within your world. You are in charge of your powers. No-one thinks your thoughts for you or gives you your emotions. No-one else speaks your words or makes you behave the way you do. These things are completely and solely within YOUR POWER! So if they are within your power, you have the ability to change them if you choose. If there are any thoughts, feelings, speech or behaviour that you don’t like, it is within your power to change it.

Your Internal Power #1 – Thought

It is a law of simple physics that no two things (matter) can occupy the same space at the same time. This law holds true across your thoughts too. You cannot think a negative thought at the exact same time that you are thinking a positive thought. You could think one directly after another, but because thoughts within the human mind are made up of language, we are neuro-linguistic beings, you can’t  think  two opposing things simultaneously any more than you can say two different things at the same time. This is the basic principle by which affirmations and positive self-talk works. You can’t be mean to yourself at the same time as you are cheering yourself on!

Your thoughts are also remarkably habitual. Approximately 90% of the thoughts you think today will be the very same thoughts you thought yesterday! This is partly because of the way our neurons work, habituated thought paths become like little highways in our minds, or a groove in a record, once they’re formed it’s very easy for the thoughts to run that course. However, we are also wired to learn, and new neuroscience research is proving that the human brain is remarkably plastic and able to change instantly given the right stimulus and conditions. All you have to do to realise this is true is to cover your eyes so you cannot see for 15 minutes or so and notice how quickly your senses of hearing, smell and touch become. You can change your thoughts just as quickly if you choose to.

Meet the boss.

You can change your thoughts, by using the executive power of your mind, the boss. Everybody has an executive, or higher power in our minds that says “yes” or “no” to things. This is why we can have thoughts about thoughts, about thoughts. The executive is the highest power within your mind. From this place you can validate or dis-validate thoughts. If you have thoughts that are not serving you, dis-validate them, question them, argue back with them! Replace them with thoughts that do serve you, that do empower you. Sometimes this is as simple as replacing the negative thought with the opposite positive thought and repeating that until it creates it’s own groove. Sometimes it is a little more complicated and requires you to dis-prove the original thought. (I’ll teach you how to do that in an upcoming post) Begin by using your power of thought to notice the thoughts you have and whether they serve you through your day.

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Your Internal Power #2 – Emotion

Your second inner power is the power of emotion. You feel things all day long, but did you realise that your emotional state, or how you feel is not just something that happens to you. It is a loop that gives you feedback from your thoughts, your physiology, and the stimulus you are getting from the world. If you think a negative thought, you are likely to feel a mix of negative emotions. If you experience something that happens in your world that you judge (think) is bad or upsetting, then you will feel a negative emotion.  Notice that it is not the thing in the world which is making you feel badly, but rather your thought that it is bad. In this way, you can realise that no-one can make you feel anything without your permission. It is always up to you how you choose to perceive the events that happen in your life.  (A special note for mums: no-one makes you feel guilty but yourself, through your thoughts and expectations of yourself. You can choose to not do that to yourself anymore.)

You may be aware already that you have the power to change your emotion, you do it all the time. Listening to music, watching a movie, reading a book, talking to a friend, hugging a loved one, taking a bath or doing something you consider relaxing or enjoyable, are all simple ways to change your emotions through taking an action. You can also change your emotions by taking conscious thought actions: remembering a happy memory, focussing on your breathing, changing the focus or look of the mental movies you make are all internal ways you can change your emotions, and there are many more ways.

You can also change your emotions simply by changing your physiology, it’s difficult to be exhausted, depressed and tired if you make yourself do star-jumps, singing your favourite song, with a big grin on your face.  Even if you start out upset, you will find that by changing your body, you can quickly change your emotions. A simple trick is to sit up straight, take a deep breath and smile. 🙂 It works.

Your External Power # 1 – Speech

Your external powers are the powers by which you influence your environment, these are the powers that have the possibility of directly affecting your results and possibly other people. Through your speech, you have the power of verbalising your thoughts and feelings, so you can communicate with others. The easiest way to change your speech is to   refer back to your inner powers and make changes inside yourself.

Your External Power # 2 – Behaviour

Many people attempt to make changes with their behaviour without first acknowledging their inner powers. It is possible to change your behaviour, of course. It is within your control! You choose whether to move your arm or not, whether to eat something or not, whether to exercise or not. However this power is ultimately influenced by your inner powers. If you’ve been attempting to make changes to your behaviour, and are struggling, I would suggest going back a few steps and making changes in your thoughts and emotions first, then you will find behaviour changes infinitely more easy.

Everyone has their own powers!

It is important to remember that everyone has their own powers, just as no-one can make you feel or think anything, unless you buy into it. By the same rule, you cannot make anyone else, think, feel, say or do anything without their permission. Every person is in charge of their own minds and bodies. This is liberating! It means that you are in charge of your own life and your own destiny. If things are not going as you would like, you have the power to change it.

Own your powers now!

You can take conscious ownership of your powers right now. Think of something that you own. Your socks, your underwear, something that you know and feel is clearly yours and not anyone else’s. Get the feeling of “Yes, this is MINE.” When you have that, think about your thoughts, and repeat to yourself “My thoughts. Mine. No-one else’s. Mine.” Take conscious ownership of them. Then move through all your powers taking them back, owning and acknowledging them. You are in charge!

• “My thoughts. Mine. No-one else’s. They’re mine.”
• “My feelings. Mine. No-one else’s. They’re mine.”
• “My speech. My voice. Mine. No-one else’s. It’s mine.”
• “My behaviour. My actions. Mine. No-one else’s. It’s all mine.”

Join the conversation…

What are your thoughts and feelings about this article?
How will you choose to act now with this knowledge and understanding of your powers?
How will you choose to use your powers now?
How does it change your perspective about yourself?