Getting to the root of thistles is a lot like getting to the root of your self-defeating behaviors and negative self-talk. While clearing my garden spot this morning, I had to remove two very large thistles. Thistles are spiky things and they can go through your gloves. The best way I’ve found to remove them is to use a shovel off to the side of them and pop them up by the roots.
How to Remove Thistles
The first thistle I removed this morning was growing on top of a large rock. So when I tried to pop it out by the root, I hit rock. This meant I had to find the edge of the rock and remove it first. This was a really big rock. Once I had it removed, I could reach down and grab the root of the thistle (which has no spikes on it) and easily pull out the entire thistle by the roots. The second one was easier because there wasn’t a rock shelf to remove first.
How to Remove Self-Defeating Behaviors and Negative Self-Talk
Removing the thistles made me think of the work I do with my clients. When people are building a business, they often run into a lot of thorny excuses for why they can’t do what they want to do. Perhaps past failures poke at them when they try to start or expand their business. Or maybe negative self talk or things people told them as children sting them and make them fearful to move forward.
For some people, it’s almost like they have a thistle plant full of reasons they remain paralyzed, unable to move forward. You could work years trying to address each thorn, or you could get down to the root cause of it all.
I’ve found when I work with people, if you can get to the root, it’s a rather painless process to eliminate a whole bunch of thorns that keep people in personal pain. For example, a root belief that you aren’t good enough may show up in your life as fear of failure, perfectionism, fear of success, fear of trying something new, fear of appearing foolish, and a host of other fears. These thorny fears can easily be lessened and even removed if you get down to the core reason that you don’t feel good enough.
Addressing the root cause doesn’t have to be painful. It doesn’t have to take years of therapy. It doesn’t require rehashing painful memories. If you’d like to learn more about getting to the root of your thorny fears or self-sabotaging behaviors, click here.
