Outrun ANTS

thoughts by Carey Nelson

The book “Change Your Brain Change Your Life” by Daniel Amen describes how you can use different techniques to change your thinking patterns. Your body reacts to every thought; negative thoughts have negative impacts while positive thoughts have positive effects. Positive thoughts can keep your body relaxed and at a cooler temperature. What are you thinking while you are training? Running a race?

ANTs are Automatic Negative Thoughts that enter your mind while you are doing things. They also can contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy situation. For example, if you don’t think you will succeed then you have less of a chance of succeeding. The opposite can happen if you have positive thoughts.

How to stops ANTS. The book describes how to stop ants…

1)      Realize thoughts have an impact on your body;

2)      Notice how negative thoughts affect your body;

3)      Notice how positive thoughts affect your body;

4)      Notice how your body reacts to every thought you have;

5)      Think of bad thoughts as pollution;

6)      Understand automatic thoughts don’t always tell the truth;

7)      Talk back to ANTs; and,

8)      Eliminate the ANTs.

You can also replace negative with positive thoughts. Experiment while you are training. Try thinking negative thoughts and see what happens to your pace, breathing rate and heart rate. Then try the positive thoughts and measure the same indicators. Relax your upper body and see what happens to your heart rate at the same given pace.

While running you can think about your running technique, running taller, staying relaxed, cadence and foot position when landing all of which will help improve your time. Imagine yourself meeting your goal; crossing the finish line and seeing the time on the clock that you want. Train in all conditions so that nothing bothers you when you are racing. Don’t let ANTs slow you down. For best results stay positive, imagine success, and stay focused on you goal.