Let’s start with a fundamental supposition: Our thoughts* generate feelings and these feelings drive our behaviours.  This supposition is the cornerstone of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).

According to scientific studies it is estimated that we think around 6,000 thoughts per day and around 85% of our thoughts are unconscious. These unconscious thoughts are driving our feelings and behaviours which means that a significant proportion of our feelings and therefore our behaviours are also unconscious, what we call “automatic” or “default” thoughts and behaviours.

If we think “negative” thoughts, we are likely to experience “negative” feelings and take actions or behave in ways that are also “negative”.

In coaching, we talk about negative thoughts as being those that limit us in some way and which prevent us from taking action for our higher purpose or in our long term best interests.  We call these thoughts “limiting beliefs”. 

The more we have awareness about our thoughts, the more we can notice those thoughts that are negative and we can then create space between what we think, feel and how we ultimately behave.  This means that with practice, we can start to make better choices and take better actions that generate better outcomes for us, for our families, for our businesses.

So when someone tells you to “think happy thoughts” or “think positive” there is truth in this.  But of course just thinking a happy thought won’t generate an immediate better outcome.  This is where flippant advice wielded by a non-expert can do more harm than good, especially if a client is stuck in a negative pattern of thoughts feelings and behaviours.  This is one of my pet peeves about those who claim to be “coaches” who are not certified and haven’t taken the time to learn about the neuroscience.  This kind of flippant advice is toxic and it can be really harmful when deployed in the wrong way and in the wrong setting.

So taking all of the above into account, the point of journalling is to enable us to begin to notice our thoughts, without judgement.  Over time, we learn how to examine these thoughts objectively and with compassion and with practice, we can start to replace these negative thoughts with more enabling ones as they occur in the moment,

This is not about avoiding our negative thoughts, it is about witnessing them, feeling the feelings, and then doing the reprogramming which is how we develop new neural pathways and how we cultivate more positive behaviours.

You can read more about these neural pathways here.

You can learn how to reprogramme negative thoughts here.

And now you know more about the psychology and neuroscience around how we can change these negative beliefs, you can access my guide to journalling here:

If you’d like to explore how else I can support your business or organisation, you can book an initial consultation here:

*I use the word “thoughts” here as that is the language used in CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy).  Thoughts which are core thoughts, in other words, thoughts we think all the time and which we take to be true are called “beliefs”.  So if we have a core thought that is negative about ourselves or the world (such as: I am a bad person/I don’t deserve…/I can’t have… etc.) then we say we hold a “negative” or “limiting” belief. 

Negative beliefs and belief systems are conditioned.  We are not born with them, they are cultivated through our early years development and these belief systems help us to navigate and survive during challenging or negative experiences before our cognitive and rational brains are fully developed. 

As adults, if we don’t take the time to understand these belief systems, without intervention we continue to operate unconsciously from these core beliefs.  These beliefs and the associated behaviour traits they generate are referred to as “Saboteurs” in the Positive Intelligence® framework, something I draw on heavily in my coaching and consulting practice and in the leadership development work I do.