How To Gaslight Yourself

To a Better Life

Nov 13, 2023

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We give lots of power to random stuff without even realizing it. The weather, our friend’s tone of voice and even our own hunger.

How often do people let a rainy day get them down? I’m guilty of this too. I’m in Montreal and we had our first big snowfall last week.

It was overnight so when I looked out the window just before 6am, my heart sank. It was pitch black still and all I could see was the snow coming down and piling up under the porch lights. I got nothing done that morning. I was weak - I let the weather get me down.

But honestly… How stupid is that! I think of all the mental energy I spend to be happy, and then I choose to let clouds ruin it all. I journal, eat well, exercise and prioritize my mental energy all to let myself be beaten by a bad cloud.

Marcus said,

“You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you. Things can’t shape our decisions by themselves.” (6.52)

Nothing outside us has intrinsic meaning. We hear, see, smell, touch and then assign meaning to those senses. To clarify that point, think of a man who had never been to a restaurant before going to Olive Garden with a woman who frequents Nobu. The man thinks “wow, this is a nice place!” and the woman thinks “this is… cute?”. They have the same experience but they each assign their own meaning to it.

When you go through a shitty experience, remind yourself you decided it’s shitty. In reality, it just is. Thankfully, that means you can change it. Dramatically. “It doesn’t have to upset you.” You can just accept it and move on.

You have more control over your brain than you give yourself credit for.

Brains Gains

When was the last time you had to do something you didn’t want to do?

How will you approach a similar situation differently next time?

How To Gaslight Yourself

To a Better Life

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