In the book, “Soundtracks, by Jon Acuff, the argument is presented that how we think and the thought loops in our minds serve as soundtracks that establish and maintain certain plot narratives about who we are and how our lives will go like predictable songs we’ve been listening to for years. Sometimes these soundtracks become so second nature we have no idea there’s music even playing in the background we just take our thoughts as gospel truth, unequivocal, above reproach, solid as a rock and doomed to last forever. What Acuff suggests is that tuning in to what the music is that plays in our heads, questioning where it came from, why we think it and whether it’s helping us or not can be the start to choosing music we prefer instead. He argues, and I completely agree with him, that we are, indeed in control of our inner voices, we can call truce with them, we can turn down the volume from those negative and hurtful soundtracks and reconfigure the playlist to work our behalf that is meant to affirm our worth and potential, not squash or doubt it.
Noticing the loops in our head is step one, staking flags into the sand of our future according to what we WANT to believe about ourselves and our lives is step two. Not only are these stakes meant to be intentional intellectual marker we think and practice repeating and reflecting in our minds,(ex. we journal from wholeness in the morning, we craft centering thoughts we keep close throughout the day) but also, taking advantage of our lives and the spaces we inhabit to create outwardly visible markers in our daily routines to point back to what we are building into the future. If we are working from a builder’s thought of, “I am a woman who takes her time seriously” then the best thing we can do is make small shifts in our time. Clear work hours, rest hours, play hours, chore hours. If the thought is, “Everything is always working out for me” then you enter into each day willing to be the sleuth looking for evidence big and small that things are working out (no traffic going to work, good coffee, clean dishes for cereal, the boss says you can kick off early, no line at the grocery store). IN order to build a life of meaning, then that which once was gutted of significance, must get a chance to be valuable again. You have no idea how destructive the comment, “It doesn’t matter.” can be when shifting our thoughts from scarcity thinking to empowerment. Even failures matter. Only they don’t matter as proof that you suck, they ONLY MATTER as proof of bravery and vulnerability. Again, stake flags in the sand of your own worth and vision for your life means being on your own team all the time. What you wear, what you eat, how you move, who you talk to, how you rest, how you restore- all those are flags that potentially rewire and align with new thinking to create a new soundtrack in your head. The more signals you send to your brain that old thinking is not your jam anymore, the better. So go get ‘em, Tiger. Put your new shoes on.