5 minute read 
by Bethany Rees

Have you ever felt your thoughts spiraling out of control like a runaway roller coaster? You start with a tiny worry—maybe you forgot to reply to an email—and suddenly you’re convinced you’ll be fired, living in a cardboard box, and eating cold beans for the rest of your life. Welcome to the toxic spiral of thought, where one anxious idea leads to another, and before you know it, you’re mentally preparing for the worst.

Mindset Matters: The Power of Your Thoughts

Ultimately, your mindset, or how you think about things, will influence your feelings and actions. So, if we’re living out the principle that as our thoughts go, so goes everything else, how do we stop the toxicity that has us spiraling down? Enter the magic of developing a leader mindset! The secret sauce lies in capturing our thoughts before they can stage a full-on mutiny.

Think about it: a fixed or scarcity mindset leads to big emotions—think tantrums, meltdowns, and more drama than a soap opera. And then we’re left reacting to perceived threats like we’re in a game of dodgeball with our feelings. It’s a classic case of Fixed/Scarcity Mindset (Thoughts) > Big Emotions > Threat Stress Reactions (Fight/Flight). Not exactly the leadership qualities we’re aiming for!

Capture Those Thoughts: Paul’s Wisdom

In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul reminds us, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (emphasis added). Think of it as a mental bouncer—every thought that enters your mind gets checked at the door. If it doesn’t belong, it gets the boot! It takes only a split second to capture a thought before it spirals into a full-blown emotional crisis, but trust me, it can be done by choosing to reframe your thoughts.

The Art of Reframing: My Go-To Moves

Reframing means seeing a situation or person from a different perspective—beyond your knee-jerk reactions. It’s like putting on a new pair of glasses that allows you to view the world in high definition. My “go-to move” for reframing is to ask myself a series of questions. Now, don’t worry; I don’t shout these out loud like I’m hosting a game show. It’s all part of my internal dialogue:

• What is the root cause of this?
• How can I zoom out to see the bigger picture?
• What can I control?
• What is the lesson I can learn from this?
• What would cause a rational human being to act this way?

By posing these curious questions, I can slow my thinking, investigate the situation, and ultimately view it from multiple angles. Who knew asking yourself questions could be a game changer?

The Choice Is Yours: Directing Your Thoughts

So when a thought pops into your head, you can either let it run wild like a toddler in a candy store or redirect it to something more constructive. Reframing allows you to intentionally send those thoughts down a different track instead of the usual negative spiral. When you learn to capture and reframe your thoughts, you can stop the toxic stories that lead to big emotions.

Ultimately, we stop the toxic spirals by taking our thoughts captive to Christ. When a thought pops into our brain, we have the power to choose what we do with it. This isn’t just about thinking positively; it’s about leaning in on the truths of Christ which in turn creates even-keeled emotions of empathy and curiosity toward the people or situations around us. (We end up thinking and doing what Jesus would do…DWJD)

Conclusion: Choose Growth & Abundance Over Scarcity

By operating out of a growth or abundance mindset, you’ll respond to challenges with empathy and curiosity rather than react with fear or defensiveness. Remember, reacting with a scarcity mindset leads to big emotions and threat reactions - which sounds more like the enemy in us, than Jesus in us. So next time your thoughts threaten to spiral, take a moment to capture them for Christ, reframe, and choose the path of growth and abundance. After all, Jesus is the giver of the abundant life!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Capture Your Thoughts.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (emphasis added) ~ 2 Corinthians 10:5

Theme Song: 

Need You Now by Plumb

References Used:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.