These days it means techy things to ping your blog articles and do pingbacks and so on… But the kind of ping I am talking about today is also an ‘ouch’ and ‘ooh’ and often requires a sharp intake of breath to withstand, let me explain…

My friends and I grew up in the times when it was perfectly normal to get smacked by our school teachers and parents if we did something wrong. It is not PC or highly regarded as a parenting tool these days, I know, however I wanted to mention something aside from that big discussion…

I would find that at school or home, if I was ever going to get smacked across the backside, the anticipation… That is, the moment immediately prior to being connected with was far worse than the reality of the pain… I have discussed this with my friends who often cried before it happened and then went away feeling ok because he pain did not deliver on the anticipation.

If ever a classmate of mine pretended to flick an elastic band at me, I would flinch and get mildly upset even though it had not hit me, because of the anticipation.

Very interesting learning experiences these, on a variety of levels. Imagine if you combined a powerful intent, with that anticipation and with an actual short burst of real feeling…. Hmmm….

We all talk to ourselves, even the most sane.

As I wrote about last week when I discussed our cognitions in mood development, many people have a positive and progressive internal dialogue that encourages them – especially when they have done something good. It is like they have their own personal inspiring coach: “You can do it.” “Go for it.” “Good for you!” You did it!” “Wow, that was amazing!”

Some people, especially people with self-esteem issues or that are overly critical of themselves have an internal dialogue that holds them back and puts them down: “Who do you think you are? You can’t do that.” “What an idiot.” “Why are you so stupid?” “You can’t do anything right.” “You’re so clumsy.” These are just put-downs.

Sometimes without being aware of it, this overly critical internal dialogue talks us out of our dreams and holds us back from achievement.

Maybe you have a great, prosperous idea of some kind and immediately this voice fires off in our head, “yeah, but…” followed by a list of reasons why it won’t work, or will go wrong. Tony Robbins referred to it as having a case of the ‘Yabutts’ in his book Unlimited Power.

So what was all that stuff about pings and pain anticipation about earlier on today?

Let me share with you a fabulous little tip for being free of the ‘Yabutts’ forever… Go and find a thick rubber band at home or in the office and put it on your non-dominant wrist…

Each time you catch yourself thinking something negative or having a counterproductive thought… Ping the elastic band around your wrist so that it causes some minor pain!

This is far healthier than being wired up to some electric volts and having electro convulsive shock treatment to deal with any negative thoughts, I promise… 😉

Anticipate it happening… Even flinch a bit… Then PING that thought with the intention that you are freeing yourself from those kinds of thoughts.

The tiny pain interrupts that negative pattern. Consider mentally and out loud saying the word “Ow!”

Ping the band every time you find yourself saying really negative thoughts or being unduly crticial of yourself.

You’ll then start to anticipate it in the same way I used to as a child… And you’ll alter your thoughts accordingly, creating and more progressive thought process.

This is a picture of some elastic bands… Not the remains of Paul the Psychic octopus who very sadly passed away earlier this week… Who on earth is going to distract us from England’s poor performances at the next football world cup without Paul being around?

Have a great day.