Here I go…. talking to myself again!

I’ve had a lot of feedback on “how to eat your elephant” via email.
One of the questions that I received on the topic is; what inspires you to eat the elephant?
“Life” inspires me, is the quickest most direct way to answer that question but then it got me thinking, and discussing with myself, the various issues within life that I do find inspiring. I find inspiration in many areas;
When I read a book, there’s something that inspires me from what one of the characters might have done or said.
When I’m listening to people talk; friends, strangers on the beach, and family members at a get-together - I do hear inspirational messages in many a conversation being held that I am eves-dropping on.
Sometimes I say things myself, and having not thought about what I have said before hand, I find some inspiration within what I have said, but only after the fact.
I look inside myself for inspiration.
What this also got me thinking about today, while I was driving around Cape Town seeing clients, is how much we really converse with ourselves. That inner voice that is always there to keep us company, to tell us right from wrong, to argue with us or give us a smart-ass comment, to warn us at times or to make us feel happy at others. I think everyone knows what I mean about the "inner voice".

My friends often look at me as if I am totally off the wall, because I tend to get animated by this voice. I may be cooking and having a full blown conversation with myself in my mind and anyone who happens to be watching will think I am ready for a psychiatrist! I get animated, and as I sit here and laugh about it myself, I realize that many times I get hand gestures going, my posture changes, my eyes look like they are on cloud 9 and my basic demeanor is that of a person with a split personality talking to Freddy Kruger. I am very animated at times because I see things in pictures, and then have a whole discussion about these images I see, what I think will happen in various situations and how the outcome will be! You should just see some off the looks I get from drivers in cars next to mine at traffic lights, because most times I’m not even aware that I’m talking to myself!

This inner voice is my best friend really because it’s with me all the time and it’s the biggest critique I have in my life! Unfortunately criticism is not always a positive thing. Criticism from our inner voice is generally harmful, harsh, self loathing, and more. All negative! The challenge we are all faced with is that we need to learn to reprogram this inner voice to not be a negative critique but a motivational inspiration to and for ourselves!

I look at myself in the mirror and say ‘You look like a whale!” My inner voice confirms this sentiment and we begin on a downward spiral of self loathing and or self pity. Self pity is in no way your ALLY in life! In fact I believe it to be your worst enemy, stabbing you in the back at the worst of times, and taking the wind out of your sail before the race has even started! It’s the subconscious mind chatting away because of what we feed it. Say to yourself 10 times a day that you are fat, and by dinner time you are ready to start a diet. Do this for 10 days and your subconscious mind will have an imprint of you being fat, and the conversations regarding your weight will always be a negative because your sub conscious believes you to be fat!
We need to reprogram ourselves all the time and nip that negative talk that we have with ourselves, in the butt!

Now this inner voice is not negative at all times and in all situations. But start noting the times that it’s positive or negative feedback and then think about why it’s giving you that feedback. I know that it all starts with me, both the positive and negative talk, so I am then faced with the task of reprogramming my mind in the negative cases, which is difficult. They do say prevention is better than cure and it starts with you.

I find it exceptionally difficult, this reprogramming, in certain areas and I then land up fighting with myself! I'm in a life-crisis and I'mm constantly at odds with myself because I am so aware of the negativity that I'm feeding myself. I constantly work at it and it gets tiring, but that’s my journey that I’m traveling for now and I'm taking the time out to work on my positive inner voice!

Spend time with your inner voice and make it your friend and above all be true to yourself! You can inspire yourself because you talk to yourself all the time. You have the motivation inside of you and you have the answers that suite you best all the time. We should believe that about ourselves and work on it, talk about it in a positive light and then let the positivity be imprinted on our sub conscious minds. I know I am most certainly working hard at it.

I never said it was easy but by god it’s funny to watch me do it!