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“Your mind is not always telling you the truth!”

A thought by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend from their book, It's Not My Fault. (pg. 36) Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

And that can be a real problem.

The guys say, “Your thinker sometimes thinks thoughts that have nothing to do with reality. This is despite the fact that your mind may be telling you that those thoughts are real, true, and accurate.

“This is not easy for most of us to accept. And it’s no wonder, because all we have to think with is our mind, and most of the time, our mind operates as if its perceptions were true.”

They go on, “The bad news is that while your thinker always tends to come across as sure, it may not always be accurate. The good news is that you can change that. You can help your thinker to think in more reality-based, perceptive, and helpful ways about you and your life. In fact, you, and only you can begin to think differently in ways that are best for you. Rather than letting your thinking contribute to your difficulties, you can learn to use your thinking to your advantage and toward achieving your goals. This is an important issue because so many of our decisions are based on what our thinker, the brain, tells us. This doesn’t mean that we can simply tell ourselves to think differently and it will automatically happen. You can’t simply repeat the truth over and over and over and hope your thoughts get the message and make the change. That’s not how it works. But you can make significant shifts… in how you look at life and yourself. And these shifts can result in changed thoughts.”

They continue, “Begin by making the essential first shift. Here it is: give up the idea that what you think is always the way things are. Question what your mind is perceiving…

“This step is also good for your mental health. One of the primary indicators of a character problem is a person’s resistance to questioning his perceptions about his situation or relationships. He is absolutely sure that things are the way he sees them.”

John said, “I once consulted with a company whose CEO was ‘always certain and often wrong.’ He was a pleasant person, but he continually resisted the opinions and viewpoints of others in his group. In his mind, his perceptions were reality; there was no distinction between the two. For example, when two of his vice presidents confronted this CEO, showing how his approach to solving a marketing problem would not work, he said simply, ‘No, I’m sure it will work.’ Even in the face of spreadsheets and numbers, he could not imagine his viewpoint to be in error, though it was. As a result, the talented people in his group ended up leaving, feeling frustrated and not allowed to achieve their potential. The company suffered because the CEO couldn’t imagine that his mind did not perceive absolute reality at all times.”

So, if that is true of you would you be willing to give up the idea that what you think is always the way things are?  Would you make this essential first shift?


Yes, yes! 
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