DailyOM: What does "you are what you think" mean?
Eric: Each of us tells ourselves a story about life all the time. Generally speaking, that story is rather negative and sometimes downright despairing. Millions of people have decided — just out of conscious awareness and where they can't quite hear it — that life is a cheat, that they have failed themselves, and that they and their efforts don't matter much. Since this is what they think, this then also becomes what they feel and how they act.
Thinking "life is scary" naturally leads to anxiety, thinking "I don't matter" can naturally lead to depression, and continual thoughts like "I'm completely overwhelmed" can eventually lead to addiction. The thought is handmaiden to your moods and behaviors.
DailyOM: In your course, you write that we are kidnapping neurons and wearing ourselves out when we engage in negative self-talk. Tell us about this.
Eric: Our brain is made up of a large number of neurons, on the order of several billions. That sounds like an enormous number, but we have to remember that it takes millions of neurons, often hundreds of millions of neurons, to have a thought.
Thinking means giving neurons over to particular thoughts. If you are using your neurons on thoughts like "I hate life" or "Why didn't I give him a piece of my mind?" or "the yard needs weeding," then you have hundreds of millions fewer neurons available to solve your problems, create your symphony, or think pleasurable or soothing thoughts.
If we are employing neurons one way then they aren't available to be employed another way. The main way we honor the creative process is by getting quiet — that is, silencing all those thoughts that are using neurons — so that all of our neurons are available to bubble up creative ideas.
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