Vanquish Your "Invisible Enemies"
“Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence." - Bruce Lee
Dealing with external opponents is one thing. Dealing with ‘internal’ opponents is quite another. Oftentimes we discover that the toughest opponents we have to deal with in our life are, in fact, internal opponents; “invisible enemies” we create in our mind such as worry, anxiety, self-doubt, and fear.
Internal opponent’s such as our own self-limiting concepts, unfounded personal doubts, insecurities, and hang-ups can act as a set of chains that restrict our abilities to move and prevent us from doing the things we want to. In addition, they can pull us out of the present moment and prevent us from dealing as effectively as possible with the situation at hand, with the result that we end up dissipating our energy by focusing our attention on an never-ending series of “what ifs?”, and “oh, no’s.” If we listen to these invisible enemies and pay attention to them we can end up stuck in place, our wheels spinning, incapable of making decisions, developing effective goal planning strategies or taking action.
(Excerpt from “LIBERATE YOURSELF! How To Think Like Bruce Lee” by Chris Kent)
So what can each of us do to help vanquish our “invisible enemies”?
ACTION STEPS:
Make sure you have all the countering tools and skills ready and at hand.
As with external opponents, do not give internal opponents what they need to work against you -- Refuse to supply them with the nutrients (negativity, pessimism, etc.) that make them grow.
Develop your ability to recognize negative thoughts and negative self-talk as soon as they start. Challenge the utility of them by asking yourself: Am I thinking properly to maximize my potentials? -- Is this thought helping me or hurting me? Is this thought motivating me to action and moving me closer to where I want to go, or is it blocking me with fear and self-doubt? Is it helping me to perform efficiently and productively?
Re-pattern the way you respond to attacks, challenges, etc. by developing the ability to “transform the opponent.”
Learn to “neutralize” internal attacks quickly and efficiently -- Work on making yourself less vulnerable to attacks.
