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THE FAMOUS story of the rugby team that crashed
in the Andes mountains, brought vividly to life in the movie,
Alive, the survivors of the plane crash repeated
many phrases — A man never dies who fights, We’ve
beaten the cold — but the one they repeated most often
was a simple fact: To the west is Chile.
Slotralogy is about learning to think thoughts that will
help you accomplish your goal. We're talking about the difference
between thoughts that occur spontaneously, arising out of the
strain of the moment (and are counterproductive) versus thoughts
you deliberately design to help you accomplish your goals successfully.
That's what the Andes survivors did. Some of their spontaneous
thoughts made them despair, of course. But some thoughts gave
them strength, and those are the ones they chose to repeat.
You can use the same technique for your
goals, whatever they are. Slotras work just as well for the goal
of losing weight as they do for the goal of surviving in the
Andes.
For best results, take one goal and work
on it diligently for a month or two, practicing your new slotras
every day. This will form new habits of thinking that can last
a lifetime. Once a habit is formed, it has a certain momentum
of its own. But forming the habit, especially when you
already have a different habit, takes some regularity.
If you try to change any habit by only
practicing it once a week or once a month, it might never change.
That’s not often enough. There are too many opportunities
during the month to reinforce — to, in effect, practice
— the old way.
Take one change you want to make and focus
on it for a period of time. If you keep trying new things, no
habits will form, so no lasting change will take place. That’s
the bad news: It takes work, discipline, and focus. (If you think
you don’t have these things, those are the first negative
thoughts to change. Use the antivirus for your mind.)
The good news is that if you concentrate,
you can form new habits.
And during the month or two you're practicing,
the practice will keep you thinking the new way as you run across
the circumstances your slotras are designed for.
It's like trying to take a new turn on
a familiar route. Most people drive to work using the same route
every time. If you do that, I'm sure you've had the experience
every once in awhile when you’re headed in the same direction
as your work, but it’s a day off and you’re intending
to drive somewhere different. You might need to go about halfway
to work, but then turn in a different direction. But what happens?
Unless you are paying attention at the time you need to turn,
you automatically drive toward work. Why? Your brain has formed
a habit with repetition.
If you're driving with someone who doesn’t
work the same place you do, they will immediately say, “Where
are you going?”
One of the functions of a slotra is to
be like that passenger who notifies you when you start to go
the wrong way, the old way. If you practice your slotra every
day, you'll have it fresh in your mind, and when you start to
think the old way, you'll immediately become aware of it. That
really speeds up the process of changing a mental habit.
Repetition is the key.
But repetition is redundant. You created
the slotra, so you already “know” it, right? But one
of the purposes of the repetition is to make sure the new way
of thinking is fresh in your mind when it really matters.
That’s when it counts. “Knowing” it is almost
useless.
Insight isn’t enough. It is only a
first step. The other half is remembering the insight when it
matters. That requires repetition.
I suggest you invest money and time in
your reminders. Draw signs. Make screensavers. Make professional
posters.
Changing the way you think about something
is not a trivial pursuit. You shouldn’t do it half-heartedly.
It is important and worth your time. The way you think determines
the quality of your life. This can’t be overstated.
The way you think determines the quality of your relationships.
It determines the amount of money you will make, and how much
you manage to keep. It determines how much enjoyment you get
out of life. It determines your integrity. It determines how
well you treat your children and how successfully they enter
the world.
The content of your mind is the most important
thing you have. Invest yourself in making it the best it can
be.
The article above is a chapter from a book
entitled, Slotralogy. Click
here to check it out on Amazon.
Read the next chapter: Creating
a Purpose Slotra
This article is part of a series on Slotralogy.
Read the first section here: Slotralogy
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