Want to beat negative self-talk? To become more mindful and in control of your feelings? Then the first step is to become more aware of the thoughts you’re having on a daily basis. Then you can better challenge them and where needed – beat them. In this post we’ll break down how to be more aware of your thoughts, step by step. So let’s get stuck in, shall we?
Why Is It So Hard To Be Aware Of Your Thoughts?
See, you wouldn’t think that becoming aware of your thoughts is difficult, right? After all – this is YOUR mind we’re talking about, YOUR thoughts you’re having.
Only, is it fully? After all, we have on average approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. Of those, 75% or 45,000 are repetitive. However, the vast majority of these are also subconscious…
Uh huh, science estimates, that 95 percent of our brains activity is unconscious, meaning that the majority of the decisions we make, the actions we take, our emotions and behaviours, depend on the 95 percent of brain activity that lies beyond conscious awareness.
Without going into it in too much depth, and in trying to explain it briefly and simply – technically speaking, you have no immediate access to what resides in your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind lies buried beneath your immediate awareness. Deep inside of your subconscious are your beliefs, perspectives, expectations, and fears.
That’s why self-awareness is so important because – although you cannot become fully aware of all of your subconscious thoughts – if you can become aware of what drives you at your core, you can better understand what’s likely to be coming up (and why.)
Remember, your subconscious mind’s sole purpose is simply to keep you alive. However, sometimes it perceives danger in the wrong ways and – although it tries to keep you safe – it can put up guards where they don’t need to always be there.
Now, the good news is – you’ll still notice links within your conscious thoughts too. Your core beliefs slip into your self talk, and that’s what we want to better recognise here… That’s how you get to the heart of what’s driving you…
How To Be More Aware Of Your Thoughts
So, how do you do it? How do you become more aware of your thoughts? Well, on the simplest level, we recommend journalling throughout the day.
How To Journal Throughout The Day
If you really want to become aware of the thoughts you have, the easiest way is to journal throughout the day. Of course, you won’t be able to pick up on EVERYTHING, but it’s a great starting point.
To do this, simply set a timer every hour and when that timer goes off, take even just 1-2 minutes to STOP whatever you’re doing, and notice the thoughts that are on your mind at that moment in time.
These may first be thoughts around what you’re doing. But within there, there will also be other thoughts playing on your mind, and even further than that – thoughts that link to feelings.
What You May Think
For example, let’s say you’re currently single, but are actively dating. Let’s say you’re journaling on your lunch break. Some of your thoughts may be:
- I’m really glad I got [this work task] done. That’s a huge weight off my shoulders now.
- I wonder if [this person at work] has done [this task] yet.
- Has [person from a dating app] replied yet? No… Damn. Why not?
- I knew [person from a dating app] wouldn’t reply. They’re always so slow to. I don’t think they’re that into me.
- No-one I like ever feels as strongly as I do. My feelings are never fully reciprocated.
- Will I ever find someone?
- I’m just not good enough.
What You Want To Look At
The thoughts relating to what you’re doing are likely to change as the day goes on. The thoughts relating to your situation at that moment in time and what’s going on in your personal life, will also change.
But those final, recurring thoughts are the ones you want to try to recognise and notice – they’re the magic key, because they’re also likely to relate to your core beliefs which enables you to identify thoughts within your subconscious mind too.
See, when it comes to being more aware of your thoughts, the thoughts that swap and change aren’t really important. It’s the ones that pop up time and time again that you want to circle and highlight. Does that make sense?
Why Journalling Is So Effective
Journalling is incredibly effective as it enables to get what you’re thinking out your head and onto paper. It doesn’t take long, you can jot your thoughts down simply in note form, then continue on with whatever you’re doing or need to do…
If you journal regularly throughout the day, it starts to show you a fuller picture of what’s going on in your mind, and you can then better break it down and analyse it all at the end of the day or week.
Journalling is immensely beneficial though – not only in helping you to be more aware of your thoughts, but also in terms of releasing all of the emotion that comes with them.
Feeling your emotions and releasing them is incredibly important. It prevents repressed emotions and puts you in an, overall, healthier, happier state.
That’s All For This One
So that summarises our #1 strategy when it comes to how to be more aware of your thoughts. You can use this in every and all areas of your life, and it’s the starting block that you’ll then build on to then:
- Challenge negative self-talk.
- Destroy damaging beliefs.
- Beat low self-esteem or a lack of self-love.
- Work through unresolved issues or trauma…
… To mention just a few. We’ll work through this further in other blog posts and online coaching programmes.
For now however, start by focusing on gaining the awareness as there’s immense power and opportunities once you’ve mastered that. 🫶
Sending all my love and support.
Love,
Ell_xx
