Your Body Is Listening

There’s an idea I’ve heard a lot over the years: your brain doesn’t know whether what you tell it is true or not.

That’s not exactly scientifically accurate. Obviously your brain can tell the difference between imagining yourself getting chased by a bear and actually getting chased by one.

But your body?

That distinction can get a little fuzzier.

Think about something embarrassing you did ten years ago and you can still feel your face get hot. Think about something you're worried might happen tomorrow and your heart can start beating faster. Imagine biting into a lemon and you might actually start producing more saliva.

Nothing is happening but your body is responding anyway.

What Are You Telling Yourself?

Now think about the things you say to yourself every day.

My back is screwed up.

My knees are shot.

I'm getting old.

I can't do that anymore.

I'm always going to hurt.

I'm terrible at this.

Maybe some of those statements started with something real. Your back hurt. Your knee gave you trouble. You tried something and failed.

But somewhere along the way, an experience became a story and then you started repeating the story.

Bruce Lee wrote:

“What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.”

I don't think he meant that you can sit on the couch, tell yourself you're an Olympic athlete, and eventually your brain will make it happen.

You still have to do the work.

But what you believe changes how you approach the work.

Tell yourself I can't do this enough times and eventually you stop trying.

Tell yourself my back is fragile enough times and you may start avoiding movement.

Tell yourself I'm too old for that and pretty soon you're eliminating things from your life because of the number of candles on your birthday cake rather than what your body can actually do.

The belief starts influencing the behavior.

And the behavior starts reinforcing the belief.

Your Expectations Aren't Just Thoughts

There's actually a fascinating example of this called the nocebo effect.

Most people have heard of the placebo effect: someone expects something to help, and that expectation can influence what they experience.

Nocebo is basically its unpleasant cousin.

Negative expectations can influence things like pain, nausea, discomfort, stress, and other symptoms.

That doesn't mean the symptoms are fake.

Quite the opposite.

The experience can be very real even when expectation helped create or amplify it.

Your brain and body are constantly communicating. What you expect, what you fear, what you've experienced before, and what you believe about your body all become part of that conversation.

Which means the words you use about yourself matter.

Don't Lie to Yourself

I don't particularly like the version of positive thinking where you're supposed to stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself everything is amazing when everything clearly isn't amazing.

Your brain isn't stupid.

If your knee hurts, saying my knee feels fantastic isn't particularly useful.

Try something believable instead.

My knee hurts today, but that doesn't mean it's broken.

I can't do that yet.

I'm learning.

I'm stronger than I was six months ago.

Let's see what my body can do today.

There's a huge difference between pretending there isn't a problem and refusing to turn a problem into your identity.

One leaves room for change.

Bruce Lee also compared the mind to a fertile garden.

A garden doesn't particularly care what you plant in it.

Plant flowers and it grows flowers.

Plant weeds and it grows weeds.

Your mind works a little like that.

Spend years telling yourself you're weak, broken, old, incapable, unlucky, stupid, or destined to fail and those thoughts don't just disappear into the air.

You hear them over and over again and eventually you start making decisions based on them.

So pay attention to how you talk about yourself.

Not because positive thoughts magically make positive things happen.

Because thoughts influence expectations.

Expectations influence actions.

Actions become habits.

And habits have a funny way of becoming your life.

Your body is listening.

Give it something useful to hear.