Self Downing Cognitions: Reprogramming

Maybe you don't know where your negative self evaluations come from. You worry that if you cannot find their source, you will never change them.

Not so. The origin of a problem and its solution are not always as connected. In the case of changing our beliefs, we can engage in reprogramming in spite of the origins of our beliefs.

Imagine that you have been kidnapped by a super secret spy organization or abducted by beings for the planet Stopyafromproducing. They drugged you and did their "thing" and now you believe some things about yourself that negatively impact your ability to write, be effective, be productive, and/or be happy.

You may not know what they did to you, and perhaps only have a fleeting memory, but regardless of what or where you learned it, those beliefs are now YOURS. You own them, and in a very real sense, it is your uncritically engaging these thoughts and preforming them that perpetuates them. The alien abductors have left the building, so to speak.

Theories and practice on cognitive change and restructuring, or reprogramming in this metaphor, are varied, diverse, and easy to practice. Easy to practice, but but that does not mean that change is quick and easy. You have been re-indoctrinating yourself for a long time, so change is going to be slow and demand a lot of work and practice.

Now you have the metaphor, some tools and tricks will follow.