Tongue Pierced With Nelson SearcySample

“Mental Script”

Every accomplishment in your life—whether it’s how well you do in school, what level you ascend to in your professional life, or how you manage your household—is directly linked to how you feel about yourself, to whether or not you think you are capable and worthy of living life at the highest level. And what defines your evaluation of your own capabilities and worth? What you say about yourself when you talk to yourself. Or as author Stephen Covey likes to put it, the “mental script” from which you operate.

Your mental script has been developing since the day you were born. It began with what your parents said to you. If your parents, intentionally or otherwise, made comments that led you to believe you weren’t smart enough, cute enough, or good enough, those hurtful words and the emotions that accompany them started setting the foundation for how you see yourself. Along the way, friends, teachers, and personal experiences have built on that foundation, shaping how you think about yourself and thereby shaping what you think you can do and be in this world. After all, what you believe about yourself determines how you feel about yourself; how you feel about yourself dictates your daily actions; and your daily actions added up over time determine your level of accomplishment in the areas of life that are important to you.

When you and I wake up to this reality, we can begin to filter the contents of our mental script through the sieve of truth, keeping what’s beneficial and discarding what’s not—a process that’s at the full potential God has put in us. If we don’t we will end up living out our stories based on the incomplete and often inaccurate scripts that have been handed to us by others.

You get to decide what mental script you allow to direct your thoughts and dictate your days—the script that has come to you from well-intentioned but often misguided people speaking out of their own poor scripts, or a script based on the true identity God has given you. Choose wisely; your decision will determine the directives your subconscious mind receives and thereby control the direction and quality of your life.

* Which script are you following? How can you move toward the script God gave you?