It has been 3 weeks now with this little thought experiment, so I thought I'd check in with progress and refinements.
First I have to say that this thought shift is relatively easy to maintain and I don't feel much resistance to thinking this way. The bad part is that I'm not sure how to gauge success or failure because just trying out something new makes one inclined to see improvement. Anyways, I think I see some improvements.
Sometimes I feel almost crushed by the staggering number of things I want that I don't have. And this isn't referring to things and stuff, but ways of being. I was feeling so
ashamed yesterday because there's this way I want to be and I see myself not measuring up. So I started right in with "I am not proud."
Not sure I want to be proud, but it's definitely a step up from ashamed...
Productivity was high this weekend and really this week in general. Apparently last week was just a bit of a slump. Pretty good for a slump, really.
I have found that more specific and actionable affirmations are more effective. For instance, "I am not happy" produces much less results than "I do not have good posture" or "I am not smiling". "I am not smiling" is my latest that I am working on. If a strained smile comes to my face after a minute I switch to "I am not relaxed". Awesome.
