Your NUTs are trying to tell you something. You’d be wise to listen.
Got an itch?
There’s something bugging you. And it’s annoying, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Is it anxiety? Is it depression? You can’t quite tell.
Sound familiar?
If this sounds familiar, it may be your NUTs. But what are NUTs? And what can you do about them? First of all, NUTs are Negative Unconscious Thoughts. I first became familiar with the concept several years ago through PhD author Elisha Goldstein.
And here’s the concept: you’ve got thoughts swirling around in your head that you don’t even know are there. Thoughts like, “You’re an idiot.” Or, “This will never work.” Where do these thoughts come from? Sources vary. But they’re there. And we all have them. And they can seriously mess you up. Partly because they’re negative. And partly because they’re unconscious. Because you don’t even know they’re there. But they’re sabotaging your day, nonetheless.
What can you do?
Scratch your NUTs.
But how can you get at those tricky, negative thoughts? Because after all, they’re inside your head. And you’re not even sure exactly what those negative thoughts are.
Here’s how.
If you’ve read my blog in the past, you know that I am a strong advocate of writing. And the most powerful writing you can do is called free writing. And part of the beauty of free writing is that you write for a set period of time. It can be 2 minutes or two hours, but it’s limited. And it’s continuous, so it shuts down your internal editor. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you spell correctly, or even if you make sense. You just write. And when you do this free writing, you suddenly start to see the stuff that’s in your head. That’s right — your NUTs. Stuff that’s been hiding in there. But now it’s out in the open where you can see it and work with it.
So in the context of scratching your NUTs, what this means is that you get those unconscious thoughts out into the light of day. And you may be surprised by what you find when you do this.
For example:
Let’s say you don’t feel good. So you set aside ten minutes for free writing. You set the timer, skeptical that this will be helpful. But as you write, you suddenly realize that although you thought you were heading out into an ordinary day, you’re actually deeply pissed about what your partner said at the party last night. So now you see why you’ve been feeling bad this morning. And yes — now you’ve got some shit to deal with. But at least now you can smell it.
Ready to get started?
It only takes a few minutes, and can save you hours of wasted time and energy. Just pull out a sheet of paper or open up a document on your computer and start with this prompt: “What’s the problem?” And if you’d like help with this, or have questions about the process, or just want to talk — feel free to drop me a line at mark@marknewtonpdx.com. As a seasoned men’s life coach, I’ve helped hundreds of men with the very same things that you’re struggling with today. And I’d be glad to walk you through the process and help you get going again. So don’t wait. Get started now.
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