How Thoughts Shape Our Lives
Welcome back friends! Thank you for tuning into another episode of the Climbing with Coach Kiah Podcast. I’m truly honored to have you here.
In this episode, I’m going to teach you a simple yet transformative concept that has completely changed my life and the way I approach nearly everything. I’m going to be teaching you the Think-Feel-Do Cycle, the foundation of mindset work.
In this episode, we’ll chat about:
How our thoughts shape our lives
The Think-Feel-Do Cycle and how it manifests
A journaling practice to help you practice thinking with intention
WHAT IS THE THINK-FEEL-DO CYCLE?
The Think-Feel-Do Cycle is a way of understanding how our thoughts shape our lives. The concept is rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and can be a great tool for understanding our thought patterns, how they impact our feelings, our behavior choices, and ultimately our lives.
Being aware of our thoughts and feelings allows us to be more intentional with our thinking to enhance our overall well-being, starting with mindset first.
This is how the Think-Feel-Do cycle works.
CIRCUMSTANCE:
Circumstances are the neutral facts of the world, separate from any thoughts or opinions. They can be universally agreed upon without attaching any emotion or meaning to them.
→ THINK:
Thoughts are the sentences that run through our minds that help us assign meaning to our circumstances. Circumstances can’t affect us until we have thought about them.
→ FEEL:
Our thoughts create our feelings, the vibrations that run through our body and create our emotions.
→ DO:
Our feelings and emotions inspire the actions that we do or don’t take.
RESULT:
Our actions then create the results that we have in our life.
What we THINK about our circumstances determines how we FEEL and how we feel inspires what we DO.
It’s not enough to DO and focus on merely changing the action. In order to get to the root of our results, we need to become aware of what we THINK and how those thoughts make us FEEL.
Here are some examples of how the Think-Feel-Do Cycle manifests itself:
WEIGHT LOSS
BEFORE
CIRCUMSTANCE: I weighed 285 pounds.
THINK: You’re disgusting, you’ll always be like this, nobody can love you in a fat body.
FEEL: Hopeless, defeated, depressed
DO: Emotionally eat my feelings, console myself in a tub of ice cream or bag of chips
RESULT: Remain unhealthy, on a never-ending yo-yo shame cycle
AFTER
CIRCUMSTANCE: I weighed 285 pounds.
THINK: I am grateful for an able body that can move, these arms allow me to embrace the people I love, these strong legs allow me to travel the world, my weight does not determine my worth.
FEEL: Grateful, hopeful, worthy, loved.
DO: Care for my body the way it deserves, speak to it better, honor it with nourishment and movement.
RESULT: Lost 100+ pounds and established healthy, loving habits that last the long haul rather than punishing myself and my body.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
BEFORE
CIRCUMSTANCE: I don’t have a business.
THINK: I’m not qualified to do this, I don’t have any credentials, I’m not smart enough for this
FEEL: Like a fraud, dumb, hopeless, discouraged
DO: Put my dreams on the backburner, shove them down and continue wishing and living vicariously through others
RESULT: Remain an employee, and never become a business owner
AFTER
CIRCUMSTANCE: I don’t have a business.
THINK: No business owner knows what they are doing at the beginning. I’m allowed to be a beginner and learn along the way. I don’t need the credentials, I can be a self-starter and learn what I need to know online or seek the resources I need.
FEEL: Hopeful, encouraged, motivated, capable.
DO: Research on google, listen to podcasts, ask for help, take the next steps forward to make it happen.
RESULT: Become a self-employed business owner pursuing a career I’m passionate about.
IMPORTANT: Just because you have a thought doesn’t mean you have to believe it
Regardless of our circumstances, we ALWAYS have a choice. Not just in what we do, but more importantly, in how we THINK.
Our thinking is habitual and these thought patterns will continue unless we intentionally change them. Our thoughts FEEL true to us often because we’ve believed them for so long. But I want us to get compassionately curious and open to questioning those thoughts.
Be quick to question your thoughts and slow to believe them.
Take a look at those thoughts and ask yourself… are these thoughts true? Or do they just feel true? Is there something else I can believe instead?
By tuning into this think-feel-do cycle and having more awareness around our thinking, we can better manage our minds and train them in a way to serve us better.
This is arguably the hardest and most important aspect of our health journeys, the mindset work.
It takes time and practice, so be patient with yourself.
WHAT NEXT?
Where do we go from here and how can you use this in your own life?
Grab a notebook, journal, or a note in your phone and get compassionately curious about your thoughts about your current circumstances.
At the top of the page, write down your current circumstance. What do you think about that circumstance?
Write down the thoughts that come up for you without filtering or judging yourself.
Then, ask yourself, how do those thoughts make me feel?
Write down the emotions and feelings that come up for you.
When I feel that way, what do I typically do?
Note any actions or behaviors that you tend to do when you’re feeling that way.
What results do those actions or behaviors create in my life?
When you do those actions, what happens?
Then ask yourself, am I happy with those results?
If the answer is NO, then, let’s reverse engineer your thoughts of sorts.
What results DO you want in your life?
Write it down whatever that goal or dream is you have on your heart.
What actions do you need to take to create those results?
What are some of the steps you need to take to get there and accomplish those?
How will you need to feel in order to take those actions?
In order to show up in a way to achieve that or take those actions, how will you need to feel? Inspired? Determined? Hopeful?
What thoughts can you practice thinking and believing about your current circumstances to make you feel that way?
Is there a way you can rethink your current situation to create those feelings or emotions? Write down those thoughts.
Then, practice them. Yes, really, practice thinking and believing those thoughts. Write it down in your journal. Write it down on a sticky note and put it on your mirror or the dashboard of your vehicle.
In order to change your mindset, you have to create a new thought habit and undo an old one. It will take daily intentional practice, like strengthening a muscle, a mental muscle.
This is called thought work, and trust me, it takes some work. But I’m confident that if you can practice more awareness and mindfulness to your mindset and thinking, it can absolutely transform your life. I know that was true for me at least.
Give it a try and let me know how this works for you! I hope it can be as life-changing of a tool for you as it was for me. In the meantime, I’m cheering for you friend, and sending you all my love!