Last month, I talked about having hope in disappointment and I mentioned the idea of creating an anchor thought for yourself. Anchor thoughts have helped me realize my goals and be better able to train my thoughts. This month, I want to expand on the following:
-What is an anchor thought?
-How do you write one?
-Examples of anchor thoughts
-Why mindset matters
What is an anchor thought?
An anchor thought is a thought you have that ‘anchors’ you to the goal thought you want to have. Many of us WANT to have thoughts like “This day is amazing!” or “I believe God has good things for me.” But these positive affirmations only get you so far if don’t buy into them. We can’t smile our way through negative thoughts and hope to be better. Instead, we have to create anchor thoughts. Thoughts that anchor us to the belief we want to have. If saying “Today will be amazing” seems too far of a stretch for you, try “I believe that good things are coming my way.”
How do you write an anchor thought?
To develop your own anchor thought, think about what thought you want to have and if you don’t believe it yet, what’s the step down from that? My friend Jessica Stong at Lives of Courage calls it laddering your thoughts. Start at your current thought at the bottom. At the top of your ladder would be your goal thought. And the thoughts on the in between rungs are the thoughts that get you to the goal thought. The idea is to work our way up the ladder to our goal thought as we believe the current rung we’re on. It takes lots of time and practice to go up the ladder towards your goal thought.
Examples of anchor thoughts
Here’s a few I’ve used the last year:
-I am the leader I need to be right now
-This will be hard work and I enjoy working hard.
-I believe this is working for me
-Clients are continually coming my way
-I enjoy choosing foods that are nutritious for me.
Why mindset matters
As I said before, we can’t smile or white knuckle our way to positive thinking or thoughts. We have to do the work. This may look like scheduling a phone reminder throughout the day to remind you of your anchor thought. It’s starting the day with a positive thought you will believe. It’s doing a daily thought download of everything in your head. Your mind is filled with thousands of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. Everything you believe about yourself and your abilities started with a thought. If we want to change our negative thoughts, we need to retrain our brains. It can be done! But it takes time and practice and an anchor thought that serves you.
Have you ever had an anchor thought? Maybe you didn’t call it an anchor thought but it was a thought or scripture that helped you grow and develop. This has been a powerful addition to my life the last year and I can say, it has changed my life substantially for the good.
Comment below if you need help creating your own anchor thought!
