I was talking on the phone with a friend of mine one day. We were discussing the mental challenges of running a business. He mentioned a book to me that introduced a concept called positive intelligence.
In his book Positive Intelligence Shirzad Chamine gives language to the battle many of us face as 
we try and pursue a goal or vision. Have you ever seen or heard of the movie Gremlins? This cute, cuddly pet turns into a green monster when you add water and/or feed it after midnight. This can be the voice in our head.
Chamine calls one the Sage and the other the Saboteur. I don’t have the time here to go into depth on all he defines with this, but I want to highlight a few ideas that may help us grow our positive intelligence.
Be Aware
Thoughts come into our mind constantly. My favorite book says to “take every thought captive”. When the thought comes to our mind do we simply accept it or do we pause to evaluate it and determine if that thought is worth dwelling on? Too often we can take a thought and accept it as true no matter what. In these situations we may unknowingly empower what Chamine calls “the judge.”
Shift
Chamine suggests we become curious and explore what causes the thought to come into our awareness. Once we identify the thought, we must not agree with it when it is not true. In addition, we need to replace it with truth.
For example, a sales conversation does not go the way we desire and we think, “I am a horrible salesperson.” That is not true and we must replace that with learning from the mistakes we may have made and reinforcing what is true. Shift to focus on the times we’ve had success and what we have done right instead of what one of the “saboteurs” are telling us.
Reinforce
A war is rarely won in a single battle. There may be a defining battle, but many battles led to that one. In order to successfully win the battles against our mind’s saboteurs we must reinforce truth. That could be through the books we read, what we watch, and the people we interact with. Find a community and resources that will help you reinforce the truth instead of believing the lies.
I have asked or listened to others as they have asked my mentors about this mental battle. Unfortunately, it does not go away. The battle is real, but winnable. We must fight every day with truth. I am a person of faith, and if you are not you can ignore this idea, so for me having the ability to tap into a source (God) bigger than me helps me maintain peace and perspective amidst the battles.
What is one way you can squash the “gremlin” and replace it with truth today? Lead well!
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