The Forecast? Cloudy with a Chance of More Clouds

It’s pretty easy to bring yourself down. You can go from high in the sky happiness to the very low of the lows if you put your mind to it.

But I bet you don’t even realize you’re doing it right?

Put an alarm on your phone/laptop. Set it to beep every hour. When that alarm goes off, write down what you were thinking in that moment? Were you thinking about what you were doing, what you will do next, complimenting yourself on a job well-done or beating yourself up about the mistake you made a few minutes ago?

I tried this once and was surprised how often negative thoughts popped up into my head. I’m not alone. I recently read how author Julia Cameron even had a name for it. She calls it Nigel.

If you’re a creative person, you’re probably used to it by now. What you might not realize is how often that voice of negativity is sabotaging and dictating your life.

The solution?

1. Conscious awareness.

2. Confront it with loving-kindness.

Your negative inner voice will look for ways to pick on your vulnerable spots. He/she will find the dirt in a rose garden. But if you continually feed it with positive statements: “How beautiful today is.” “How much better life is getting.” “How great I’m doing to pursue my dreams.” It will gradually shrink back in its dark hole until you let it out again.

Try it and see if your future forecast isn’t a bit more sunny.