Men. Intelligent.™

 

Challenge #12

Don’t start before completing Challenge #11.
If you want to join the IntelliMen Project, start from Challenge #1.

 

Challenge: Examine your thoughts and remove the ones that do you no good.

Explanation: We all have an inner voice; a voice that continually speaks to us. Most of the time we’re not conscious of it, but even so it’s there in all we do. “You should get up at such-and-such time to avoid being late.” “Call your mom. It’s been a while since you talked to her.” “I wonder what people are saying about me on Facebook?” “These challenges are getting harder…” “It’s almost lunch time. I’m so hungry…” Hundreds of phrases, thoughts and ideas that come to our mind through this voice every day.

Obviously, this voice influences everything you do. Before taking any action, we listen to this inner voice. It exerts a great deal of influence over us. If this voice says good things, we do good. If it suggests bad things, chances are we will manifest bad behavior.

Knowing this, an intelligent man keeps constant watch on his inner voice. He examines his thoughts to make sure that they are good. He knows that maintaining a clean mind involves blocking dirty information from entering into his body, because in the end, we are what we think.

Your challenge this week is to rummage through your mind and identify the negative thoughts that rise to the surface here and there. Stay alert to your inner voice, and observe whether it’s telling you good or bad things. Be VERY CAREFUL, these thoughts are very subtle; you may not even realize that they are harming you.

Studies show that our mind has a tendency to lean towards negative thoughts. This means that on a day to day basis we have more negative thoughts than positive ones.  Regret from the past, worries about the future, distractions in the present… our inner voice is constantly taking detours from what we should really be thinking about. Don’t say that you don’t have this problem.

Once you identify a negative thought, immediately rebuke it, and replace it with something positive. This is crucial!

Notebook: With your notebook open, watch this video. Take notes of what helps you and what caught your attention.

Official Partner: Speak to your partner about this challenge. Talk about what you discovered about your inner voice, and how many times you’ve caught it saying something negative, destructive or distracting. Share how it felt to be more aware of your inner voice.

Deadline: You can begin working on this task immediately. Complete it in a week. Obviously, you should keep working on this task in future, it will always help.

Post: After – and only after – you have completed the challenge, post your comments – on the IntelliMenWorld Facebook or Twitter page, (not on your own page) and write the following:

IntelliMen Challenge #12 done: What I learned about my inner voice was… (Add your comment.)

Links:
www.facebook.com/IntelliMenWorld
www.twitter.com/intellimenworld (when tweeting, use @intelliMenworld)

 

Verification Checklist:

☐ I started to oversee my inner voice and eliminate bad thoughts
☐ I watched the video and took notes in my Notebook
☐ I spoke to my Partner about the challenge
☐ I posted my comment on Facebook/Twitter

 

Phrase:

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. – Henry Ford