Have you ever experienced a moment where you were doing ok and then all of a sudden someone makes a comment and BANG, you experience a MAJOR setback of self-doubt and anxiety? Do you have any idea where this emotional response comes from– so fast and appearing so ‘right’?

I know that I am not alone in this experience and recently went on a quest to figure out why this happens. If you can relate, you may be interested in some of the findings.

I found through reading various authors that we all have a journey and from the start of that journey we are influenced positively and negatively as we are being formulated into a human being—child, adolescent, and even young adults. By the time we get to the adult stage of our life, and we think ‘I’ve got this…” that’s when we get caught off guard and ‘stunned.’

For example, just before meeting a prospective employer, you think, “what am I doing …I don’t have what it takes, what if they ask me?” And on and on it goes. By the time you are called in to have a discussion, you question why you are sitting across from the person!

Why is this? You know your strengths, you know who you are, what you have done, achieved, accomplished, and your value to this prospective organization. So why the angst and questions?!!

Dr. Daniel Amen, a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and brain imaging expert, has coined the phase “ANTs” for these negative thoughts. Meaning they are ‘Automatic Negative Thoughts” that come up unexpectedly and if they are not mindfully challenged, they can ‘get you!”.

Dr. Amen suggests instead of ignoring the free-floating negative thoughts, that you take note of them, write them down as they happen, and look at each one independently and analyze if it is true.

Why? To get rid of false beliefs that have been holding you back or rattling you so that flounder and misstep when putting your best self forward. The analysis is simple. Here’s how it goes:
Step one: negative thought, write it down. (example: I am not capable of….”
Step two: is this thought true? Can you support it with data? Can you negate it with experiences, education challenges that you have succeeded in the past…etc.
Step three: read the true statements and read the false statements. I would suggest you read them out loud and experience and sense how your body is responding to each statement from the initial negative thought, to the true and false statements you wrote. Your body is a powerful barometer of what is true and false, and you can feel it tense up or relax when it hears words that resonate with it.
Step four: simply cross off the items that are not true. Reread those statements that are true, and feel how your body is more relaxed.
The final step: to go to the top of the page, and mark next to your original statement of “I cannot do…” a big False if it is false. Smile and release the fear, angst, and tear up the paper, or ‘crush the ANT”!!!

I suggest you write in your personal calendar on the day you did this exercise, the true statement of “I can do….” and anything you can succinctly put to remind yourself of why you can. This is your affirmation, your statement of truth, your removal of some ANT from the past that has hindered you up to this moment of truth. This simple exercise reinforces your Value and what Value you bring to others.

Unfortunately, by the time we are grownups, we have a lot of ANTs traveling in our heads. Take each one and challenge them. Let them go away cognitively and mindfully and regain your Power and Value for who you are as a complex wonderful person.

Be grateful for your effort and persistence and be proud of yourself and your growth.

Congratulations on every small effort to kill your ANTs and remind yourself daily how you CAN do and be the person you envision for the day and lifetime!

Try it! Have fun! Go out and Kill your Ants….and build your affirmations and value!