Clare Josa | Author And Keynote Speaker

UK's Foremost Imposter Syndrome Expert, International Keynote Speaker & 8x Author

positive thinking

Gratitude: Why Positive Thinking Isn’t Enough

Clear Out Your Blocks

“But how do I feel gratitude? I get stuck with thinking it and it doesn’t make any difference!”

This fabulous question was asked by one of my readers this week.

It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room – why so often positive thinking isn’t enough; it doesn’t work. In fact, it can make us feel worse.

And if you’re a passionate world changer, it can hold you back from making the difference you are really here to make in the world.

If you ever get stuck in your ‘thinking mind’, you won’t want to miss this video.

Here’s a whistle-stop tour of the neuroscience behind this – and some practical inspiration for what you can do instead.

 

Let me know how you get on with the techniques I share in this video – which shifts they create for you. And how might you remind yourself to use them? I’d love to hear from you, via the comments.

And if you want more inspiration from my ‘The School Run’s Done’ series, here’s where you can find the archives.

x Clare

Clare Josa | Mentor to Passionate World Changers

P.S. Not got A Year Full Of Gratitude yet? Order your copy today and make sure you join the readers’ club to learn how to turn your inner critic into your biggest cheerleader. x C.

Gratitude & Sticky Socks: Why Positive Thinking Can Be A Waste Of Time

Clear Out Your Blocks

In today’s #theschoolrunsdone inspiration for Passionate World Changers, we’re talking about stinky sports socks and gratitude – and why this is a metaphor for how positive thinking can be a waste of time:


So, were you trying to dilute that stinky sock water with a thimble-full of positive thinking? Are you ready to pull the plug and let the sink empty, so you can fill it back up with thoughts that make you feel happier?

Remember: you get a year full of step-by-step how-to in A Year Full Of Gratitude. I’d love to share this journey with you.

x Clare

Why Positive Thinking Can Be A Waste Of Time – If You’re Struggling With Self-Confidence

Videos

Do you ever find yourself struggling with self-belief and self-confidence?

And have you ever wondered why the whole ‘positive thinking’ and ‘affirmation’ thing doesn’t seem to work very well, when you’re in that position? (I’ve certainly fallen into this trap!)

Well, in today’s Soul-Sized Wednesday video, I’m going to tell you why – and I’m going to give you some inspiration for what you could be doing instead: When you’ve watched it, I’d love to hear from you via the comments:

  • Which belief is it time for you to finally deal with?
  • What are you going to do, to deal with it?
  • And how will life feel, when that is done?

Here’s the link to the course I mentioned in the video:

>>> Spring Clean Your Life Summer School. <<<

AND here’s a reminder of the gorgeous gift for you. After at least six months of promising (if not longer!), my Masterclass “5 Ways To Magically Make More Time” is FINALLY in the diary. Click here to grab your place and you can get started already with the pre-event worksheet: 5 Ways To Magically Make More Time – Masterclass

I’d really love to share this with you. And I’d especially love to have you join me for the Summer School. It’s going to be a wonderful, life-changing event – all designed to fit around a busy summer holiday lifestyle. And it could change your life forever. Are you in?

With love, Namaste,

CJ Sig


P.S. If you’re not quite sure about the summer school yet, remember it comes with my “Love It!” guarantee – try it on for size and if your heart tells you it’s not resonating with you, let me know and you get a no-quibble refund. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to create the life-changing shifts you have been dreaming of. xx C.

Is Your Monkey Mind Telling You The Truth About Stress?

How To Change Your Life

{Hint: You’ll Want To Make Sure You’re Not Falling Into This Trap}

Have you noticed how your Monkey Mind (that little voice in your head – or maybe yours sits on your shoulder?) likes to tell stories about stress?

Even when you’re not feeling particularly stressed, if it spots a stress trigger, it uses it as an excuse to start up the story machine again.

And it likes labels. It likes to put things in boxes: “That’s a stressful thing. That’s a difficult thing. That’s a happy thing.” When the stuff is in boxes, it makes life easier for your Monkey Mind, because then it knows which auto-pilot scripts and old habitual behaviours to run.

But there’s a problem with all of this.

The problem is that we believe the stories our Monkey Mind tells us.

If it tells us something is a happy thing, we believe it. If it tells us that something is a difficult thing, we believe it. And we feed the thoughts that support those beliefs.

Life is an objective, sensory experience, until you label it and attach the event to a story.

As soon as we use a label or put an experience into a particular box, we lose our flexibility and choice over how to respond.

The experience gets automatically connected to your body’s chemistry set, triggering the hormones and chemical reactions that impact your physiology and emotions.

The label – the story – impacts every cell in your body, without you consciously doing a single thing about it.

But it’s all a fib, because:

Tweet this: ‘Life’ isn’t stressful. The stories we tell ourselves about life create the stress. It is believing your thoughts that causes the pain.

The phenomenon of ‘stress’ comes from believing the stories your mind is telling you about it. Yes, some events have the power to trigger more stress than others, but ultimately it’s up to us to choose how to experience life.

 

Is this really stressful? Or am I just telling myself it is?

Whether it feels stressful or not is up to you. You get to choose which stories to feed in your mind. You get to choose which to just let float on through.

Tweet this: You are the author of your own story. So you can choose which story to write.

I know the idea of ‘choosing’ might feel difficult – and even trigger a few rotten tomatoes being thrown at me down computer screens – but it is something you CAN do. In fact, there’s a technique I’d love to share with you that could help you in the next sixty seconds. Are you up for it?

Want A Solution?

How to get your Monkey Mind to tell the truth – and reclaim your choice – a 60 second mindfulness technique.

  1. Start with 3 Mindful Breaths, breathing in through your nose and breathing out with a tension-releasing ‘ahhh’ sound. This brings you back into the present moment and into your body.
  2. Say to yourself: “I choose to press ‘pause’ on the story.” And mean it. Wait for the gap to arrive.
  3. Ask yourself: “What is real in this situation?”
  4. Be firm with yourself. If stories and drama surface, press pause on them and ask yourself again what’s real.
  5. If you get stuck, go back to describing the physical sensory experience, e.g. “When my boss said I have to do a presentation next week, I noticed the pit of my stomach tensing up and I clenched my jaw.”
  6. Sensory descriptions bring you back to what’s real and helps you to drop the label-addiction.
  7. When you distil the situation back to the essence of the sensory experience, and let go of the labels and the stories, it always feels better.
  8. If you want to try out solutions to the problem, imagine them and ask yourself how they feel. Your body will tell you whether the solution creates physical sensations that feel worse or whether it brings genuine relief. It’s easier to make decisions, when you work with your body’s internal barometer.

Did you enjoy this technique? It’s really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more I’d love to share with you!

If stress is a feature of your daily life – and you’re feeling fed up with being stuck on an emotional rollercoaster, then you’ll love my 14 day “Master Your Emotions” programme. You could set yourself free from that emotional cycle in the next 14 days – in just 10 minutes a day.

Here’s where you can find out more and get started today: Master Your Emotions

How did you get on with this technique? What did you notice shifted, when you turned from ‘story’ to ‘body’? How might you remind yourself to play with this?

I’d love to hear from you, via the comments.

With love, Namaste,
CJ Sig

3 Reasons Why Positive Thinking SUCKS! (Are you falling into these traps?)

Videos

So, yes, you might be surprised to hear me say it, but positive thinking sucks – IF you’re falling into one of the 3 most common traps that catch most people out.

In today’s Soul-Sized Wednesday video I’m spilling the beans on the 3 most common reasons why positive thinking is a waste of time – and the ABC of what you can do about it.

Well? How did you get on?

If you’d like to join in the discussion on this, I’d love to hear from you via the comments.

  1. Which shifts did this ABC technique create for you?
  2. How will you remind yourself to play with it?
  3. And how different do things feel, a week on?

 

Could you help to spread the word?

Please share this with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest – and wherever else you hang out!

Tweetable

Click to Tweet:

A single negative thought isn’t the problem. It’s the stories you tell yourself about it that cause the pain.

With love, Namaste,
CJ Sig

P.S. If you liked this technique, then please check out my new online course: The A-Z Of Authentic Positive Thinking ~ it might just change your life! 🙂 xx Clare

Which Face Will You Choose Today? Why It Might Be The Most Important Decision You Make.

How To Change Your Life

Which face will you choose today?
Which ‘face’ will you choose today? [Photo credit: Steve Ford]
Look around you next time you’re out and about in a busy street. Even when people are lost in their own thoughts, not talking to anyone else, their face tells a story. It tells the story of what their typical thoughts have been about. It shows you which thoughts and emotions they have practised most often, over the years. Check it out – our favourite emotional states are written on our faces for all to see.

Our ‘relaxed state’ facial expression is a scarily public indicator of our inner emotional state. Happy people have happy faces. Sad people have sad faces. Grumpy people have grumpy faces.

When you get older, which kind of face would you rather have? The one that is furrowed with worry lines and frown grooves? Or the one with crow’s feet and laughter lines?

We can choose which face we want to wear. [Read more…] about Which Face Will You Choose Today? Why It Might Be The Most Important Decision You Make.

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