Comments on: Monsters

By: The Monster In Your Head » Remembering How We Got Here

The Monster In Your Head » Remembering How We Got Here — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:37:42 +0000

[...] large events, like when my father lost his job, that cause us to take on a new point of view, a monster if you will. In my case, that view has sometimes cost me but more often than not caused me to push [...]

By: The Monster In Your Head » Loneliness and the CEO

The Monster In Your Head » Loneliness and the CEO — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:37:39 +0000

[...] induce a sense of responsibility for others’ feelings that-quite frankly– would emerge as a Monster in Your Head. Even the CEO isn’t responsible for how an employee feels about their job. But there is an [...]

By: Find 30mins and watch this now. Do it. « A Dry Idea

Find 30mins and watch this now. Do it. « A Dry Idea — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:55:06 +0000

[...] fear. Jerry Colonna writes a cool blog called “The Monster in Your Head” – he had a nice post about those fears. When they were laid off, each of these people were able to discover something they had lost because [...]

By: jerrycolonna

jerrycolonna — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:43:19 +0000

I think, Joey, it'd be a toss up as to which form of self-deception is more painful. Both are awful.

By: Joey_H

Joey_H — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:25:30 +0000

Great post. Could there be opposite situations where a person has a misguided enforcing belief such as a a self described comedian who isn't funny or a singer with an awful voice? I would think that these would be just as detrimental to a person as limiting beliefs, but almost more painful to deal with.

By: jerrycolonna

jerrycolonna — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:51:24 +0000

Excellent example…Thanks Corry.

By: corry

corry — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:11:51 +0000

Hi Jerry, great post - thanks for sharing it! It lines up with something that I saw online recently:

http://i.imgur.com/77pfB.jpg

...about how mature elephants can be bound using flimsy ropes (that they can easily break) due to behavior they learned as young elephants. Definitely a good example of a 'monster in your head'!

By: jerrycolonna

jerrycolonna — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:10:21 +0000

Well I think there's something very liberating in the simple act of seeing the voice, the refrain, as just another thought and not necessarily objectively true (again, look to Byron Katie's four questions). Seeing it as a just a thought, a perception, possibly a point-of-view held over since childhood (and designed to keep you safe) takes away some of its energy. Making the unconscious conscious, in my view, puts you back in the drivers' seat of your life.
You–the rational adult you–may choose to act in precisely the same way that Monster is telling you to act but the difference is that you've made the choice–and that act is empowering.
One tip, and I'll probably end up recommending this often, is to meditate. Insight (or vipassana) meditation is an especially useful technique for seeing that we are not our thoughts (especially not the thoughts that cause us the most trouble). We are the thinker, generating the thoughts.
A strong meditation practice can help you see the thoughts as puffs of air.
And equally strong technique is anything that brings you out of your head and into your body: dance, yoga, exercise. Anything that turns off the thinking for a while and allows you to experience life in the moment. Great practice for calming the heart–especially if you've got three kids.

By: jerrycolonna

jerrycolonna — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:02:19 +0000

Yes. Rehab the Monster. The thought, the perception, is just that…just a perception. The only power it has to influence our life is the power we give it.

By: Julie P

Julie P — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:52:48 +0000

Great Blog Jerry, I think the problem with those voices in our head is that they are kind of like my voice to my children – they hear it so often, sometimes it is white noise. How many times can you listen consciously to “put your shoes in your closet.”?

I think we are unconscious to our limiting beliefs because we have heard them so much they are simply part of our routine – our white noise. Do you offer any tips or tricks to living attentively to our goals in every area all the time or is it better to focus on a couple of specialties. I ask whimsically since I am and entrepreneur, married with 3 sons – I can't actually afford to specialize, but the idea is kind of nice.