{"id":834,"date":"2012-11-28T10:41:52","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T17:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/?p=834"},"modified":"2023-07-01T12:57:30","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T18:57:30","slug":"the-enemy-defined-part-2-negative-self-talk-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/the-enemy-defined-part-2-negative-self-talk-propaganda\/","title":{"rendered":"The Enemy Defined (part 2: Negative Self-Talk Propaganda)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is part 2 of a 3 part series explaining the Enemy (the thing stopping us from creating our epic work). You can read part one here<\/a>. If you are new, read my new book: The Art of Instigating<\/a>; this article will make more sense, I promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the first part of this series<\/a>, I explained the conventional forces of the Enemy: the Army of Bad Habits (the accumulation of years of individual actions, repeated daily and consistently).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting the Army of Bad Habits isn\u2019t easy, but it\u2019s also the simplest to understand and identify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unconventional force of the Enemy is much harder to understand and identify.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Enemy\u2019s unconventional force is one that uses subterfuge to confuse us into giving up on a project right at the start, or bailing on our project near the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets us when and where we\u2019re weakest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Enemy\u2019s unconventional force<\/em> is negative self-talk propaganda.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNegative self-talk propaganda is all the terrible, unproductive, fruitless, worthless, silly things we say to ourselves when we\u2019re building something worthwhile.\u201d <\/em>[Tom\u2019s Blog<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Self-talk<\/strong> originates in the rational part of our brain (the left side of the brain; although exactly where<\/em> our rational thoughts come from is still being debated and a topic for another post).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These thoughts are negative <\/strong>because they don\u2019t help you create anything<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative self-talk propaganda will rationalize why you shouldn't do anything inventive, productive, or creative for as long as you live.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, in fact, negative self-talk propaganda will try its hardest to out-rationalize your positive, ambitious side by explaining why anything you decide to create will fail; why anything you long to build will just enter the abyss of unsuccessful; why no matter how hard you try, it will all be in vain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re hoping for a rational reason why you should instigate, you might as well stop looking, stop instigating, and start following orders, instructions, and rules.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing rational about building your empire or creating something from scratch and without permission (or at least nothing to out-rationalize why you SHOULDN\u2019T do these things).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The negative self-talk propaganda in your head is very, very good at rationalization; its entire existence is based on subterfuge and undermining your productive thoughts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s propaganda<\/strong> because we've learned, over time, what society (school, family, work, etc.) thinks we should do, and those memories affect and change our internal monologue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This propaganda is the negative things we say to ourselves as we try to build something epic, something we've seen others do but we know we can do better, or something unique but we\u2019re not sure how others might take it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s propaganda because it\u2019s not true.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything you thought could be done<\/em> can be done<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything you think you could do better<\/em> can be done better<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything unique you want to bring to the world<\/em> deserves to be brought into existence.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative self-talk propaganda can\u2019t be destroyed; it can\u2019t be killed and buried like we all wish it could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It exists, and we have to deal with it every day for as long as we live \u2013 no amount of therapy will get rid of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way to deal with negative self-talk propaganda is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Identify that it exists, that you can\u2019t get rid of it, and that it will be talking to you for as long as you\u2019re on this earth trying to make something worthwhile<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Take action every day to prove it wrong<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Negative self-talk propaganda HATES when we take our lives into our own hands, develop our goals, and ship them to the market.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It hates it because it can\u2019t do anything about the persistent effort we give to a singular endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you think you should quit, if you think it might not work, if you think it\u2019s stupid\u2026do it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Go to work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You\u2019ll find (very quickly) the negative self-talk propaganda fades\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At least for a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As with everything worth doing, the Enemy<\/em> will always be there to try and break us down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t let it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instigate your life\u2019s work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Continue reading Part 3: THE ENEMY DEFINED (PART 3: THE COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE ENEMY)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is part 2 of a 3 part series explaining the Enemy (the thing stopping us from creating our epic work). You can read part one here. If you are new, read my new book: The Art of Instigating; this article will make more sense, I promise. In the first part of this series, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[234],"tags":[255,301,303,313,375,378,432],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}