When I go jogging, I love listening to podcasts & music. My pace often follows the rhythm of Rihanna or Sia 🎵.
They are songs or words I deliberately listen to.
But in our daily lives, there are also words we don’t choose to listen to and yet they play non-stop in our minds, just like the monotonous background music you get in certain restaurants.
We don’t necessarily like what we’re hearing but we don’t think we can do anything about it – and sometimes we don’t even realize it’s there.
These words form a soundtrack that we take in every day without even realizing it, with “greatest hits” like:
· “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
· “You should be there by now!”
· “What will they think of you?”
· “You’re not good enough.”
· “Look at that mistake you made!”
· “You don’t have what it takes.”
And let’s not forget the “what if + worst-case scenario ever” classics 😉.
It’s like forcing ourselves to listen to the worst song ever (mine is “Agadoo” by Black Lace – yes, I grew up in the 80s 😊) every hour of every day and not doing anything about it.
Unlike those dancey playlists or soundtracks from our favourite films, these songs don’t give us a boost, they drown out our potential.
In our language learning. In our businesses. In our lives.
It’s because the words are coming from inside our head, we think we’re listening to the truth. We don’t complain.
We forget it’s fake news; a ploy by our brain to keep us safe and warm in our comfort zone.
So it’s time to become aware of our daily playlist: write those songs down on paper, observe them and see how silly the lyrics are. They’re literally some of the worst in history!
Let’s be our own DJ and choose some new songs to listen to.
Songs that we can also believe and that will drive new actions and new results.
What’s a new song you want to start singing regularly?
Photos courtesy of Unsplash: Stocksnap & Alice Moore