The
second part of this book focused on understanding the different
Saboteurs in the mind. Mr. Chamine names 10 Saboteurs; The Judge (the
master Saboteur), The Controller, The Stickler, The Avoider, The
Hyper-Achiever, The Pleaser, The Victim, The Restless, The
Hyper-Vigilant and the Hyper-Rational (the nine ‘accomplices’ to The
Judge). Each Saboteur is described by the type of thoughts ‘it’ has and
the type of actions that occur when this Saboteur is running the show.
I found this interesting for a couple of reasons. A book I previously mentioned, Your Instincts are Killing You,
gives some ways for a person to decrease the unnecessary stress that
arises from certain situations. One of the methods was to label the
negative thought as a way of dissociating from it. This is not the first
time I have heard of this technique; dissociating from negative or dis-empowering
thoughts as a way of managing them. Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins hints on this concept as well with a few research articles to back up his claims.
However, after reading Your Instincts are Killing You,
I still didn’t really have a grasp on this whole labeling concept. What
labels am I suppose to use? I also realized that the idea of labeling
thoughts goes against some of the new thought law of attraction principles that have a belief that if you bring attention to the negative you
attract more of the negative.
I
like how Mr. Chamine brings some concrete labels to apply.
I did some
of the self-assessments on myself. I realized a few of the Saboteurs
that would be considered (according to the book) to dominate a good
majority of my thoughts. The book suggests giving more personal names to
each Saboteur as a way of really identifying with the labels.
Interestingly enough, while reading the description of each Saboteur, I
not only noticed how it applied to my life but I usually could pick out a
friend of family member that I thought completely embodied that
Saboteur. I chose to rename each Saboteur after that particular friend
or family member.
For
the past couple of days I have been testing this out. For example,
according to the book The Stickler Saboteur strives for perfection. It
is considered to be anxious, sarcastic and typically puts in overtime to
make up for others mistakes. The Stickler would be a Saboteur that I
identify with. I named this Saboteur after a friend of mine whom I
believe is astronomically more anal that I am when it comes to
perfectionism (no really, she’s pretty intense). Anytime my mind goes
into overdrive trying to get a situation to absolutely perfection I think to myself “OK *name*, calm down, it’s not that serious.”
Now
I’m not sure if this is just a placebo effect or an actual psychological
change but either way, in the moment I usually end up laughing at
myself and do indeed feel slightly calmer about the situation. It helps
me to step back from the situation.
I
think as a people, we like the idea of dis-empowering thoughts being
something outside of us. We like the idea of saying that that’s not
really me, just this voice… over there...trying to tell me how to think.
The book, The Fifth Agreement, hints on this concept as well; the idea of there being you and then you; the you that you are and the you that you don’t know that you are that is destined to actually remain happy and joyous in most situations.
I've enjoyed this portion of the book.
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On another note, I have started back up in my Cognitive Sciences lab and it looks like I will be assisting mostly on studies related to how religious symbols and beliefs effect memory and decision making. I am debating on some reading material for this semester that will coincide with my research.
I have started a book called Supersizing the Mind by Andy Clark. Good read but slightly more dense in information than the books I have been writing about on this blog. I may still throw some of my thoughts up here on it just in case. The book raises some interesting perspectives. I love books where I have to reread a sentence a couple of times before it 'clicks.' When it does 'click', it's usually pretty awesome.
Ps. I am sorry for having horrendous grammar. Would you believe I was a writing tutor in college. Ha. Yea, I don't know how that's possible either. Actually, I do. I was a writing tutor for a specific type of class. Certain types of writing really just follow a formula and that is all the class, professor, etc cares about. For instance, I took the MCAT last summer (my days of thinking I was going to be a medical doctor, good times) and even though I am not the greatest writer in the world, I always scored amazingly well. Why? Follow the formula. Can never go wrong.
However, I am now studying for the GRE (extremely late, I know, but I have no regrets taking a couple of years off - I started a business and found a whole new path to life happiness in the process - best decision I ever made). I am hoping my writing by formula works this go around.
Be lovely.
Laney
