My guest this week is Thomas Sterner, whose latest book is It’s Just a Thought (affiliate link). As you know, your thoughts aren’t always helpful or true. In this conversation Tom and I talked about how to change your relationship with thoughts, which I think about a lot as CBT therapist. Just knowing that we’re thinking is a huge part of what’s helpful, but awareness alone is usually not enough. We need specific ways to practice new thinking. Tom shares some really interesting techniques for developing more helpful thought patterns.

Topics we discussed included:

• Unconscious programming that dominates our thinking
• The difference between thinking and being thought
• Realizing how our reactions typically are not under our control
• Finding more freedom by having more flexibility in our reactions
• The connection between thoughts and stress
• Reaching a state of exhaustion where the mind “gives up” and stops thinking
• How self-hypnosis works
• Shifting our language to help us reach the things we care about

Thomas M. Sterner is the author of The Practicing Mind, Fully Engaged, and most recently It’s Just a Thought: Emotional Freedom through Deliberate Thinking.

The CEO of the Practicing Mind Institute, Sterner is an in-demand speaker and coach working with high-performance industry groups and individuals, including athletes, to help them operate effectively in high-stress situations and experience new levels of mastery.

Prior to writing the bestselling The Practicing Mind, Sterner studied Eastern and Western philosophy and modern sports psychology and trained as a jazz pianist. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware.

Visit him online at his website or email him.