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Why Did You Rehearse That!

You've rehearsed things before right?

Lines for a school play, a song, what you’re going to say to someone at an important moment…

We all rehearse things both physically and mentally because we want to get them right.

The empowering question then is:

What Things Are You Rehearsing That Don’t Make Your Life a Better Place? 

Odd Question Right?

Why would anyone rehearse things that are bad for them! Yet it’s easily done and we all do it. 

“If he fails to deliver on time again I’m going to be really annoyed!”

stressedBeing really annoyed could mean: shouting, saying things you regret later, making decisions in the heat of the moment that are not the right ones etc.

Every time that you think about something that hasn’t happened yet, you are mentally rehearsing your response. How you are going to act in that situation when something happens.

If (Insert situation) happens then I’m going to be (insert behaviour).

Its a cause effect statement that disempowers you. Because you are mentally rehearsing the ‘y’ response If ‘x’ happens.

What Are You Mentally Rehearsing That Isn’t Good For You?

When you are thinking about what you are going to do in a certain situation if ‘x’ happens, remember that question and take back your inner power.

Next time you are mentally rehearsing how you are going to be upset, annoyed, stressed etc remember this idea and ask yourself:

“What am I mentally rehearsing this response for! Is it really the best thing to do?”

Then ask:

“How would I like to be/react in this situation?” Respond rather than react.

Everything starts as an idea, from a chair to an aeroplane. Everything starts as a thought.

A toddler doesn’t know to run from a lion, or snake it has to learn that response. You had to learn to get stressed by certain things happening. Once you’ve learned and master those patterns they run automatically.

But you can reprogram them!

Lets Take a Look at Some of the Science Behind This…

Experiment #1

Let us look at this experiment from the University of California, Los Angeles. Lien Pham and Shelley Taylor conducted and experiment with 3 groups.

Group 1 were asked to spend a few moments each day visualizing a clear image and notice how great it would make them feel to score a high grade in an exam.

Group 2 were asked to visualise exactly when, where, and how they intended to study.

Group 3 were the control group and asked not to visualize anything.

exam successResults of the experiment. The group 1 students studied less and scored lower grades on the exam. Although they reported feeling better about themselves they achieved less.

The students in group 2, visualizing studying, prepared better for the exam, made them studied harder and they scored higher grades and reported that they felt less stressed than normal.

Daydreaming about amazing things may make you feel better short term and while you are doing it, but long term can be unproductive. Instead focusing on (visualising), taking action, doing things and spotting opportunities that you take advantage of gets you results. 

Experiment #2

This experiment involved people playing sports, golf and tennis.

The experiment again showed that the people visualising themselves training (i.e. taking action) and practicing were more successful than those who simply imagined themselves winning or the group who only practiced.

“Is now a good time to think something else…”

What Are You Mentally Rehearsing? Good Success or Bad Habits?

Remember this question next time you find yourself mentally rehearsing something that you know isn’t you acting from your best place.

Mentally rehearsing the way you would rather be in a situation with feelings. Big positive, wonderful feelings in your body as you think about the new way of being and acting. It’s truly Pavlovian. Think about something and feel good, and you’re drawn towards it.

“There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world.” Wallace Wattles

The next step to create your perfect life requires you to go deep within yourself and reprogram your unconscious for success. And in this video learn how to upgrade your mind by rewriting your old habits for more empowering ones.

If you have any questions or comments leave them below and I will answer them for you

6 Comments

  • Lee

    Reply Reply July 11, 2018

    dude you have a way of putting things that really makes me think!
    sometimes it makes my head hurt lol your why is water wet thoughts… man that really made me think deeeeeeeply about so much stuff in my life and I think this is going to aswel.
    thanks bro, love it

  • Helen Holt

    Reply Reply April 19, 2016

    Great post thanks John. I see what you’re saying about mentally rehearsing bad stuff and I definately do this but when its in the moment I feel like I don’t have control, particularly when I’m tired. And partly I think I’m right to get annoyed at the other persons behaviour… although I get that me then getting annoyed doesn’t help.

    • John Vincent

      Reply Reply April 19, 2016

      Hi Helen,

      Thank you for your kind words about my post 🙂

      It’s great that you see what I mean about rehearsing negative patterns of behaviour and how we all do it and why it’s a good idea to change… recently I started doing Yoga and at first I didn’t have enough physical control over my body to get into some of the positions, after I practised them for a while I gained more control over my body and they are much easier now, the same is true of your mental muscles, to make them stronger you need to practice certain certain ways of thinking… but first you need to be aware of how you think and how it affects you. My free video series (see below) addresses this very concept…

      Thinking that you are right (and you may be right according to the culture you live in or even according to the laws of the land you live in, but they differ vastly from one culture to the next and whats acceptable in one country isn’t in another… being ‘right’ is only point of view), and you are right that getting annoyed doesn’t help, in fact releasing cortisol (the stress hormone) into your system isn’t helpful to you… you can think that you are partly right and poison yourself with stress chemical or you can think you are partly right and feel happy…

      🙂

      • Helen Holt

        Reply Reply April 19, 2016

        Thank you John. I’ve signed up for your video series, just watched video one. Really interesting thinking about the way we think and you’re right I need to put that into action… do my mental asanas 🙂

  • Jenny

    Reply Reply April 18, 2016

    i love the way some of your work forces me to take a good look at myself and take responsibility for me, my life and my results. i’ve bought plenty of “push button” solutions that don’t make a difference for me – and normally just try and sell me more stuff! This challenges some of my thinking and I like it.
    thanks John x

    • John Vincent

      Reply Reply April 18, 2016

      Thank you Jenny 🙂

      That’s wonderful to hear… the only way anything is going to change is when you face up to it, take responsibility and do stuff… I’m not saying that manifesting isn’t real, because in my experience it is! And works really well, it should feel effortless too, because you’re in the flow . . .

      change also need action and that comes from you 🙂

      Glad you enjoyed these ResponsABLE articles . . .

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