At a conference I attended last spring on cognitive therapy, the presenter said that on average a person has 60,000 unwanted negative thoughts a day. I think 60,000 of these little puppies are a heck of a lot of negativity swirling around inside our brains! I refer to this phenomena as Brain Spam.

What spam is in your brain? Many of my clients are stressed to the max with worry about their financial status around such issues as foreclosures, layoffs, credit debt, college loans or whether they can afford to retire or remain retired.

Brain spam can hijack your life by distracting you from your core self and core beliefs. Brain spam also drains us of vital positive life energy. The good news is that you can build your own personal firewall to block unwanted brain spam. Remind yourself that thoughts aren't facts and that in most cases your perception of an event is more important than the event itself. Fall back to the tried and true, control what you can and let go of what you can't control. All you can really control is yourself.

Antidotes to brain spam:

1. Assertiveness 2. Anger management 3. Problem solving 4. Acceptance 5. Hope 6. Faith 7. Exercise, physical and mental 8. Replace can't or never with may or can 9. Turn shame and blame to regret 10. Identify your strengths

A wise client of mine recently told me that she is living in hope, promise and expectation. Very wise!

www.centerforworkandlife.com www.awomansguidetosanerliving.com graphic by: chris wucherer 734-669-7202