Author: Reggie Aquilina

Negative thinking and self-sabotage are the main culprits that erode our self-esteem and the ability to be successful in life.

You can never really move forward in your life if you are shackled with a deep sense of limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging thinking that keeps you tied down to the swampy lowlands of mediocrity.

So today I’m going to give you 7 tips on how you can overcome this tendency to beat yourself black and blue and come out bright and shiny!

1. Acknowledge the ‘Gremlin’ within you!

The gremlin that resides in your head may be fond of telling you how inadequate you are and that chances are you will not succeed to achieve your dreams and goals. He might say things like:

‘You’ve never been good at this, why should you bother trying anyway?’

‘You’re gonna get burned if you try that. Don’t risk!’

‘Are you nuts! That’s too big a goal for you to achieve!’

‘You have always been a failure!’

Just become aware of your gremlin and acknowledge his presence. The bastard is there and he will hold on dearly for life and cling to your thoughts with all his power. But you do not have to humor him! When you catch yourself thinking these thoughts acknowledge what is happening, smile and imagine the ugly face of the gremlin staring at you. Then visualize yourself grabbing a broom and beating the crap out of him! Don’t let your thoughts be controlled by the Gremlin any more!

2. Challenge your Self sabotaging thoughts

Once you become aware of your Gremlin and you start refusing to be controlled by him you need to challenge your self-sabotaging thoughts. Have you ALWAYS failed in the past? Are you absolutely CERTAIN you are unable to go for a big challenge? Are you really such a TOTALLY hopeless failure? C’mon get real!

3. Create new powerful beliefs

Write down your Gremlin favourite quotes and then create an opposite powerful belief.

If your gremlin tells you that you are an inadequate person create a powerful belief such as:

‘I choose to be a successful person in all the activities I need to do. I am ABSOLUTELY confident in my ability to achieve anything I choose to do based on my values’.

Write it down this Belief in Bold letters and read it every morning and evening. The important thing is to load the belief with emotion while you are reading it. REALLY FEEL absolutely confident and let waves of certainty filter through you as you read the belief every day.

4. Use your past Successes to gain confidence:

Look back into your past and find two or three occasions where you successfully achieved a goal you wanted to do.

Now don’t tell me you can’t think of one! That’s absolute BS and you know it!

So think of two situations where you felt proud of yourself and confident. Now feel those feelings of confidence and pride really well up and grow strong within you and just imagine you are closing yourself within a circle of light. Imagine that within this circle of light you are feeling completely confident, completely happy, totally certain of your abilities to succeed. Go out of the circle and leave those feelings within the circle. Then, whenever you want to feel confident before facing a challenge, just visualize yourself entering the circle and drink in those feelings of confidence, certainty, energy and boldness.

5. Hang out with positive people

You are a reflection of the people you associate with. So hang out with positive people. If you find yourself feeling drained in the presence of a person because of the negative talk and attitude he or she radiates, just avoid this person like the pestilence! If on the other hand you associate with positive people who are role models and who are naturally supportive to other people, you will find it so much easier to be positive yourself.

6. Test the waters

You cannot really change your beliefs about yourself and beat back your Gremlin thoughts unless you take action. Start testing the waters by doing small things that get you out of your circle of influence. Let’s say you feel like crapping in your pants at the thought of talking in public. So just start small, make a presentation in front of family members first, then to a group of friends and gradually increase your confidence as you realize that Yes you CAN do it!

7. Celebrate your success.

Each time you manage to do a small step forward acknowledge yourself and celebrate your success. Have an attitude of gratitude for the good things that are flowing in your life and for what you are achieving and who you are becoming in the process.

Start integrating these tips on a daily basis in your life and you will find yourself gaining more and more confidence and certainty.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/7-tips-to-help-you-manage-negative-thinking-and-self-sabotage-4131534.html

About the Author

Reggie Aquilina is a Life Coach from the island of Malta. He provides one-to-one, Skype and Telephone Life Coaching sessions and he also works with Organizations to provide Exective Coaching and individualized training and motivational programs. To view his list of services click HERE.

He is also the Author of the ebook ‘The 10 Vital Keys to Life Success’ and a free report about this ebook can be downloaded from http://www.insightzonecoach.com. Visit his BLOG for similar articles.