Shifting from Can’t to Can: 8 Practices to Put in Place Right Now

Did you know that your brain believes what it hears on a regular basis? This is true especially if you say it out loud or even under your breath multiple times a day. If you say “I can’t do that,” your brain believes you and makes it come to pass in some area of your life.

As we begin to look at the way we are talking to ourselves, our beliefs start to change. The words that are red flags in our minds are things like: never, hate, won’t, can’t, and even always.

If we tell ourselves things in absolutes, we start to believe them… even if they aren’t true.

' You can only lose what you cling to. '
– Buddha

I want you to think of an area where you are selling yourself short right now. Where do you tell yourself you can’t achieve a goal that would really make a difference in your life? Breathe. Pause. Reflect. I want you to visualize the negative words as balloons and you are now releasing them to the sky.

I am going to show you eight practices that you can put in place right now that will really help you make that shift from can’t to can. All you need to do is believe.

1. Become an observer of your thoughts. I get it. It’s a tough time, but before you share someone’s opinion or post a status using the words in absolutes, think about if you believe it. You are reinforcing an absolute behavior.

2. Instead of letting your thoughts and emotions run away with you, start to observe if what you are telling yourself is even true, and whether it is yours. Is it old karmic nonsense that you just have on autopilot playing in your head? Was it passed down?

3. Change your morning routine to include a positive affirmation: I am healing. I am living a life filled with abundance. You get to be in charge of the positives here.

4. Remember Winnie the Pooh? How Eeyore acted? Be an observer not only of your thoughts, but of what energy you are putting out there. Are you attracting more negative?

5. Appreciate the good in your life and celebrate the achievements. Small steps are better than none taken. As Mother Teresa said: “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

6. I am a big believer in the science of brain-based healing. Studies have shown that thoughts alone can actually improve vision, fitness and strength. Brain chemistry and circuitry are constantly being re-wired as we shift to better thoughts.

7. When people consciously practice gratitude, they get a surge of rewarding neurotransmitters, like dopamine, and experience more illumination of the mind. If you don’t believe me, practice a gratitude ritual for 30 days and see how your life has changed in that time. It really changes your stress level.

8. I have seen epigenetics work in my own life. That means I am speaking to my genes with every thought I have. This is the part that might seem crazy, but the truth is that your biology doesn’t give you a reason to give up the fight. Epigenetics is showing that you really can change the way your body reacts and responds. Essentially, how genes are read by cells is actually changed by who you interact with and how you think and respond to life. It’s pretty powerful research.

Just remember, some of the things you are saying to yourself are probably not even your own thoughts and stories. They are things that you have been told over your life, and it’s time to let that go and step into who you were really meant to be.