I have several clients who suffer from brain rats. From time to time I suffer from them too. Those are the messages of self-doubt and inadequacy that creep into our minds, sapping our energy, and destroying our confidence. They make us uncertain, tentative, and scared to act.
The singer-songwriter-coach, Barbara McAfee, describes it well in one of her songs.
Brain rats are the wicked thoughts, that prove my every flaw.
Every hopeful notion gives them something new to gnaw.
I hear them chewing in the night, and on & off all day.
They’ve really got my number, all the awful things they say…
(Refrain…)
Brain rats–
I’ve got brain rats.
A pestilential plight upon my mind.
~ Song lyrics by Barbara McAfee, While You Are Alive album
How often do you have a good idea but never share it because the brain rats start chewing on your confidence? How often does someone give you a compliment and you brush it aside with brain rat thinking?
So what is a person to do when the brain rats appear? If you deny them with self-talk to tell them they are liars, you are just engaging them, making them stronger, and they’ll win every argument you toss their way.
Instead, I suggest you simply notice them. Recognize and acknowledge they exist, but know you don’t have to engage them. In fact, I even go so far as to mentally turn my back on them and look the other way.
Then focus attention on your go-to attribute. That’s one of your strengths that always seems to inspire energy and direction when you are in challenging situations. Some clients call it “passion.” Some say it is their “presence.” Others name it “building relationships.” Whatever it is for you, think about what that attribute looks like and sounds like when you are doing it well.
Plan how you will use some of these skills intentionally in the current situation. Focus your energy and thinking on the behaviors that will call forth these strengths.
Then work your plan and return to it each time those ugly brain rats try to diminish you with nasty thinking. They want to keep you small when the world really needs you to live large!
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