sundae

How Often Do You Say "Not"?

By Susan Ford Collins

As a researcher at NIH, I learned something about your brain you need to know now. It could save your life, or your child’s!

Take a minute to read these instructions: Don't think about a hot fudge sundae and the warm, thick chocolate melting down two scoops of your favorite ice cream. Don't think about the walnuts in maple syrup or the generous dollop of whipped cream and long-stemmed red cherry sitting on top. Perhaps some of you are already headed for the kitchen!

Why do we “think about what we’re told “not to think about... and even take action on it? The truth is we can’t help it; it’s the way our brain works. Whether we realize it or not, we have a Positive Command Brain. Like it or not, everything is a positive instruction to the brain.

Our brain is wired to see, hear, feel, taste, smell… and take action. We’re programmed to respond…without stopping to think. Sense/do. Sense/do. Primitive man needed this brain to survive!

But sometime in the distant past something monumental happened… the concept of "not" was introduced. Not statements produce an unforeseen complication. If we depend on our primitive brain, we automatically and unconsciously take actions that threaten our safety and others’. Fortunately you have a CHOICE. We can stop when we hear NOT and ask, What do I want instead? Or what do you want instead?

Don't drink and drive. In case of fire, don't take the elevator. Don't cross on red. Many of these instructions actually create the problems we are trying to avoid. Now that you know this, you need to listen more carefully to the instructions you give and receive... at home, at work and in the world. Using your Positive Command Brain to focus on what you want instead of what you don't want will change your life, and others' lives, for the better.

(c) Susan Ford Collins. Contact me for permission to use it.

* For more on The Positive Command Brain, read Skill 3: The Science of Dreaming in The Joy of Success. And Skill 3: Hologramming in Our Children Are Watching.

THE TECHNOLOGY of SUCCESS Book Series… compact, concise and powerful…

the perfect toolbox for today’s “always-on” global world.

$14.95 paperback  $3.99 eBook