The solution to the problem
The solution to your problem is very simple. You must learn to shift your attention so that you feed your white wolf more and your black wolf less.
You just need to shift your attention from your negative thoughts and feelings to your positive thoughts and feelings.
And you do this by dwelling a little longer on your positive thoughts and feelings. That’s it.
Forming a new habit
The difficulty is, however, that due to our negative mindset, our attention automatically turns to our negative thoughts and feelings.
It has become a habit. We don’t consciously think about it, it just happens.
The challenge is to replace the “negative” habit of feeding your black wolf with the “positive” habit of feeding your white wolf.
Learning and unlearning habits is not easy and it takes time, effort and practice.
“When a habit develops, the brain no longer fully participates in decision-making. Our brain stops working so hard or shifts attention to other tasks.”
“So unless you deliberately fight a habit – unless you find new routines – the pattern will unfold automatically.”
~ Charles Duhigg, American journalist and author
So we must very consciously continue to feed our white wolf until this has become a habit.
That is, until our unconscious has learned and taken over this task and it happens automatically.
Only in this case have we really changed our mindset.
Changing core beliefs
To change a negative mindset in a positive mindset, you must identify your core negative beliefs and replace them with positive core beliefs.
Your negative core beliefs are the things that you say to yourself, consciously or unconsciously, whenever something happens to you or you are confronted with a challenge.
In the table below, we list common negative core beliefs and their positive counterparts.
[table id=3 /]
Challenge
Identify your negative core beliefs and choose a matching positive core belief that you want to replace it with.
- Use the examples in the table as inspiration
- Write down the positive core beliefs in your own words
- Check what you can and want to do to change your negative core beliefs into positive core beliefs