Taming Your Gremlin

"Who am I fooling?" "I'm a loser," "I'm too old," "I'm fat," "I'm not smart enough," "I have no talent," "I'll never finish it," "It's too late," "I'm not good enough," and on and on.

Sound familiar?

Have you ever started a project or had an idea, only to abandon it as soon as negative self-talk arose? You know what I mean ~ those nasty little voices that stop you from getting what you want?

The longer I work with people, the more convinced I am that a majority of suffering could be alleviated by the simple task of taming one's Gremlin (or gremlins).

"Gremlin," is "an imaginary small creature humorously blamed for the faulty operation of airplanes or the disruption of any procedure," according to Webster's New World Dictionary.

While Webster's defines Gremlin with a twist of humor, I don't think there's anything funny about the destruction Gremlins leave in their wake.

I regularly hear about unfulfilled dreams, unwritten books, unsung songs and unlived lives. If you can change your beliefs, you can change your life.

In his book, "Taming Your Gremlin, A Guide to Enjoying Yourself, " Richard Carson says, "There's a Gremlin within you. He is the narrator in your head."

Some people think this narrator is their conscience speaking. I don't think so. My belief is that our conscience only tells us good things such as, "Call your mother," or "Give money to the poor." Carson says, "In order to tame your Gremlin, you must detect his presence; and to detect his presence, you must differentiate yourself from him."

So ? what can you do? Here are some suggestions.

First, remember that your Gremlin isn't you, it's only a bad habit formed long ago in an effort to protect yourself from rejection.

Second, remember the third law of motion from Physics: for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. So, for every negative statement you've told yourself, there is an equal positive statement. Here's an exercise I do with clients and in seminars. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half. On the left hand side, write down all the comments that come to mind whenever you set out to try something new or fail at something.

Give yourself some time to make a list of 8 or 10 statements.

On the right hand side, write the mirror image of the negative one. For example, if you've written, "I'm too old," the mirror image would be, "There's still time." If you've written, "I'm stupid," the mirror image would be, "I'm smart."

When you're finished you'll have your own, very personal list of affirmations. Copy these onto nice paper and post them in prominent places. Look at them and read them throughout the day and see how it feels. It sure beats beating yourself up. These affirmations have just as much weight as the negative ones, and a lot more power if you make room for them to grow inside you.

At first they feel awkward and unnatural to say, just like beginning a new work out program feels unnatural. With time, these new statements can be formed into a new habit replacing the old ones and changing your life in subtle and not so subtle ways.

What do you have to lose?

Carol Moss
LCSW, Life Coach,
http://www.carolmoss.com

Carol Moss is a LCSW and Life Coach who loves working with smart, creative women who want to figure out what's next in their lives. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she has been a life coach for 5 years and a therapist for 10 years. Carol brings many disciplines to her coaching, including her training, many years performing as a professional actress and life experience. She is also a professional singer, performing with the duo The Sparkle Sisters (http://www.carolmoss.com).

detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Taming Your Gremlin

Positive Attitude Tips