I’ve got voices in my head. You probably do too. Many of my voices put me down. They say things like: “You don’t have the discipline to pull that off” or “You failed the last time you tried that” or “You don’t really have what it takes.” Some of these voices I recognize—bosses, teachers, parents, friends. Now, to be fair, none of them actually said those things to me. They’re more like recurring extrapolations of the displeasure I’ve sensed from them on memorable occasions. During the height of the Internet bubble, for instance, I remember one business advisor saying to me in passing, “If you haven’t come up with a winning product idea by now, you probably won’t.” Ouch. That one struck hard. And still does. These are my ANTs—Automatic Negative Thoughts. They usually spring to life the instant I contemplate doing something I’ve not tried before. Acquiescence feeds them. Courageous confidence defeats them. Today I think I’ll set out some nice ANT traps. Care to join me?

Your thoughts? What are some of the ANTs that might be robbing your confidence?

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When was the last time you gave yourself permission to think creatively? If you’re like me, you keep a busy schedule, carry a lot of responsibility, and move quickly from one task to the next. It may have been a long time since you’ve taken time just to sit and think. Why not plan some time today conjure up an idea, or two, or even a lot of them? Take it from the man renown for ideas; one of them is bound to be great.

Your thoughts? What would it take to clear the decks (and your mind) and think creatively about your future?

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Most of us are learning disabled—by design. That’s because our brains are wired for speed. Over 100 billion neurons, connected by one quadrillion synapses, process approximately 100 trillion bits of information per second. The processing power of the human brain is unmatched by even the fastest supercomputers. Yet, all that power creates enormous excess capacity when it comes to listening. After accounting for comprehension, our brains think at a rate of about 500 words per minute—four times faster than the average person speaks. The result? While our over-productive brains are instructing our heads to give an attentive nod on the outside, on the inside we’re thinking, “Enough already! Finish your sentence so I can tell you all the great things I just thought about while you were talking.” And therein, according to Larry King, is when we disable our learning.

Your thoughts? What opportunities will you have today to be “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19)?

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From the earliest words out of her mouth, my daughter has always been adept at keeping a conversation moving along. One morning, when she was very young, we were enjoying some alone time together. As she sat on my lap, I noticed that she was unusually quiet. “What are you thinking about?” I inquired. “Daddy,” she responded quizzically, “What’s thinking?”

Her question left me dumbfounded. Sometimes it still does; not the metaphysical or physiological question, but the motivational one—not disciplining myself to think constructively about my challenges and opportunities. In fact, I often find myself feeling more productive moving from task to task—the quicker, the better—rushing to get items knocked off the list. Without thinking, I respond and react to needs and events around me, like the Far Side cartoon of the wife amoeba saying to her TV watching husband, “Stimulus, response. Stimulus, response. Don’t you ever think?” I can get in my high-gear, hyper-productive mode for so long, I’ve forgotten to think about whether I’m doing the right things. “Don’t you ever think?”—it’s a good question. If I don’t take the time to do it, before long I’ll be asking, “What’s thinking?”

Your thoughts? Do you find yourself avoiding think-time by constantly doing or overindulging in entertainment?

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Now there’s an encouraging thought to start your day! It’s similar to the oxymoronic despair.com poster that proclaims, “It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black.” Our culture seems to be fond of these dark sayings and even has a spokesman. Murphy’s Law, “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” (and the British variant, Sod’s Law) has derivatives in nearly every human endeavor from toddlers to technology and love to lotteries. (Read some of them here). While they make for clever and even humorous sayings, I’ve found myself susceptible to their influence, especially when things go well. Somehow, lurking in the back of my mind, I’m wondering when the other “shoe will drop.” Do you recognize that saying too? I admit, I’ve allowed this kind of cultural fatalism to creep into my thinking. It’s time to start saying goodbye to these negative assumptions for in all things, good is at hand. (Rom 8:28).

Your thoughts? In what ways have you seen Murphy affecting your thinking?

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Is there any doubt that “instant” is a prized value in our Western society? Fast-food. Speed-dating. Instant messaging. If fast is good, faster is better. Steeped in this adrenaline inspiring culture, I often make commitments the same way—quickly. I’ve discovered that my enthusiasm about a new idea can often lead me to make a commitment that I wouldn’t otherwise make if I had slowed down enough to evaluate it carefully. It seems that all too often I find myself sacrificing the larger commitments—life purpose pursuits—at the altar of drive-by opportunities. Seldom are these immediate opportunities as important, or rewarding. Yet, they come quickly and furiously—and loudly. In the midst of this onslaught, larger pursuits wait quietly for a time when I slow down enough to think and act slowly.

Your thoughts? When was the last time you gave yourself permission to think slowly about your commitments?

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When Anna and I married we discovered pretty quickly that it wasn’t just a person we married—it was an entire family system. My quirkiness, and hers, could be traced to patterns of behavior we acquired growing up. Some peculiarities were pretty easy to spot. Others were more difficult. Even after nearly three decades of life together, the imprint of our families of origin remains ingrained within us. And because there are no perfect families, there is often a lot of faulty thinking buried in those imprints. Quirky behavior is our only clue. The thing is, we can’t often see our own quirky behavior. We need to live out loud in the presence of another to discover it. The ancestor of every action—faulty or healthy—is a thought. How well do you know the ancestors of your actions?

Your thoughts? How have you benefited from others revealing your faulty thinking?

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