Synopsis
about the “Change You Brain Everyday” Blog
ANT stands for automatic negative thought. Dr. Amen uses the tiny 6 legged creatures as a symbol for automatic negative thoughts. ANTs can be quite toxic and lead to panic attacks and a just a generally pissy attitude. He uses the anteater animal to symbolize that we are taking action to kill our ANTs.
Exercise: Ask yourself, “what is the ANT population in my head?” If it is high start writing down your negative thoughts and soon I will teach you how to eliminate them.
The ANT population in my head is actually pretty low. I’m revisiting this chapter after about 6 months. I have noticed that the more mindful you are of ANTs the easier it is to squash them.
There have definitely been points of my life where the ANTs were much higher. When they were at there worst I found logging a gratitude journal was very helpful. That and volunteering. When I was flooded with negativity, taking inventory my blessings was always helpful. Truly being grateful to have a warm bed to sleep in and a roof over you my was a perspective shift. Not everyone has those things.
When I notice my ANTs nowadays its usually small things. Judgmental inner thought like “That person’s hair is messy,” or, “That is an ugly shirt. What was that person thinking.” When I catch myself doing these things I always try to find a thing or two that I can complement the person on. Maybe there shit is ugly but there shoes are cool. When I’m at my best I’m complementing everybody in my head. Sometimes I’m giving so many complements that they slip out and I complement them out loud.
It is amazing how good you feel when you start looking for the good in everything. There is so much good and beauty all-around us at all times. It is a shame when we can ignore all the beauty to focus on the negativity.
Author – Coach Brian