Clicking is a practice that has completely changed my life. Here’s how I discovered it as an excellent tool to develop positive thinking.
It was December of 2009. I was supposed to go to a Relief Society dinner at
the church. The only problem was, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay warm and cozy inside my house – I had little desire to replace my sweats with acceptable attire and socialize over ham and mashed potatoes. But alas, the good angel on my shoulder won out and I went.
It was a lovely evening that included an inspirational speaker. Her topic wasn’t positive thinking, but in the course of her message she said that on average, we think over 300 negative thoughts a day. Whoa! Is that true? Do we really think that many negative thoughts a day? I wanted to know if that was accurate, so the next day I made a $9 investment and ordered a clicker online. You know, a hand-held tally counter. I was going to count – or “click” – my negative thoughts.
On day one, I hooked the clicker to a stretchy wristband and put it around my wrist. I announced
the experiment to my family informing them why I had a large, yellow piece of plastic dangling from my wrist. I told my husband and children that I was going to count my negative thoughts. That morning, while driving the kids to school, I set the clicker on the panel in between the two front seats. My daughter Meg, who was nine at the time, picked it up and looked my accumulation of clicks. She exclaimed, “Whoa! You have 8 negative clicks
already! Holy Cow! That’s a ton!” I picked up the clicker…and clicked.
It was at that point I decided to cover the tally with masking tape so no one could see the number of clicks I racked up. I proceeded to count my negative thoughts. I clicked for all kinds of things. We had recently bought a puppy (Click, click, click.) I didn’t want a dog. (Click.) One evening while on a date with my husband I accrued a lot of clicks, as I told him, the house is a mess. (Click). The kid’s toys are everywhere. (Click.) The kids drove me nuts. (Click.) I am having a bad hair day today. (Click.) I feel like I have nothing to wear. (Click). My visiting teacher didn’t show up today. (Click.) I stubbed my toe on the stairs (Click.) I didn’t get one minute to myself today. (Click.) I have so much to do. (Click.) My lesson isn’t ready for Sunday (Click, clickety, click, click.) I don’t know if I would have noticed the extent of it, if I hadn’t had to click each time I said something negative. Obviously to say it I had to think it first.
I kept track for a week. Each night I would pull back the masking tape, revealing the number of negative thoughts I had that day. Obviously it would be impossible to track every negative thought because I didn’t take the clicker everywhere with me. For instance, I didn’t take it to church on Sunday. Can you imagine? What if someone asked me why I was clicking? It would be embarrassing to respond, “Well, I’m counting my negative thoughts and when I saw how many Cheerios your family dropped I judged you for it, so I had to click. I didn’t count all of them, just the ones that you stepped on.”
During my week of clicking negative thoughts, the highest number I had in a day was 145. So, if it’s true that we think over 300, then I missed some.
By the end of that week, something very interesting and very unexpected happened. I woke up early (that’s not the unexpected part.) As I spent some time alone before jumping into a busy day, I realized I felt depressed. I felt down. I was discouraged. I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling that way – nothing had changed. Life was the same. Nothing bad had happened that week. Then it occurred to me – it was my experiment!! Was it possible that this innocent experiment could be the cause? Could giving all my negative thoughts recognition by simply clicking actually give them enough power to change my whole mood?
Maybe that’s why King Benjamin tell us in the Book of Mormon, to “watch yourselves and your thoughts.”
That very moment, before I had even had breakfast, I decided to change the experiment. I decided to count my positive thoughts. I needed to know if clicking the positive would restore my happiness. If I focused on uplifting thoughts, would I feel better? Could positive clicks help me feel more positive and have the opposite effect of the negative?
You bet! Absolutely! I’m a believer, 100%. Here’s what happened…
I immediately began clicking positive thoughts. On day one, I clicked 321 positive thoughts! It was so much more rewarding and uplifting to count positive thoughts – to create them instead of blocking or chasing away the negative ones. I counted any and every thought that was uplifting and inspiring. I clicked things I was grateful for – milk shakes, mountains, scriptures, prayer, clothes, music, my family. Even the puppy got a positive click or two after good behavior. It felt awesome! I loved clicking the positive.
Day four, I was shocked when I saw the tally – 1262! I had actually had over a thousand positive thoughts in one day! During that week, my spirit seemed to soar. I felt so happy. I noticed a complete turn-around in my mood and outlook. My circumstances hadn’t changed one bit – only my thoughts had.
While I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety run in my family, so I have some experience with mental illness. I am fully aware of the need of medication to treat chemical imbalances and regulate mental disorders. I am grateful for such medications. I am not implying that thinking happy thoughts can cure mental illness, but I am advocating the idea that it certainly can’t hurt.
My life was changed by that two week experiment. I learned by my own experience there is power in what we think. Our thoughts affect our mood, behavior and choices. Positivity has become more natural for me now – it just took daily practice and time. One of my favorite places to practice clicking is on the treadmill. I run with a clicker in my hand. The positive thoughts fuel my heart, muscles and lungs. When I want to quit, I click instead. I run farther and longer when I’m clicking.
Grant Von Harrison said, “To a great extent we accomplish what we think about. Our thoughts, more than anything else, will be the determining factor in what you accomplish during your life.”
If you don’t have a clicker, you can order one HERE. In addition, here are
some other ideas that will likely have similar results:
• Write down your positive thoughts
• Make a list of things you’re grateful for
• Spend 60 seconds thinking positive thoughts and snap your fingers with each thought
• Speak your positive thoughts out-loud for one minute
• List positive thought on your cell phone notes app
• Write positive thoughts and words on sticky notes and place them around your house
I’m a believer. I’m grateful for the positive thinking journey and for the new habits and beautiful insights it helped me to learn!
