Page 28 - Faith-Based Workbook 8-27-18

TOPUCU Adult Faith-Based Workbook
LESSON 4: PART 1
E TO THE 7 POWER
TH
Welcome to Lesson 4 of the TOPUCU Starter
Program! You’re just about halfway through
the 7 lessons. Congratulations! But you’re not
done yet. Keep plugging away because all
of the powerful principles, tools and secrets
from Lessons One, Two and Three won’t have
as much effect if you don’t continue and
finish what you’ve started. Today’s lesson
tackles an idea that is truly at the center of
it all. You’re going to learn some techniques
that can be used to take back control of
that central processing unit we call a brain.
Now, there’s tons of clinical research and
data out there that attempts to explain all
of the nuances of the brain but at the end
of the day that is all just information. And
remember, this is a program that is all about
transformation, so we’re going to talk about
how to get your brain to think differently;
to see things differently; to approach and
apply different logical patterns to areas in
your life where you want to see change; and
specifically to that one habit you chose to
address in Lesson 1. Do you remember what
that was? Did you write it down? Have you
been working on it? If not, go back and
review the previous lessons. There is no limit
to the amount of times you can review and
study them. There should be no limit to what
you’re willing to do to see positive change.
With that said, let’s get to today’s lesson.
In Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul writes
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever
is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable--if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy--think about such
things.” (NIV)
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In this passage of scripture it is clear that
Paul is emphasizing the power of the mind
and reminding the church that dwelling on
righteous things can bring about positive
things, or at the very least keep a man or
woman from slipping into negative thought
patterns or behaviors. In other words our
thoughts have great power. The formula
we’re going to teach you in this lesson
will help you to harness that power in a
transformative way.
The Formula – which you should add to
your TOPUCU Toolbox – is called “E to the
th
7 Power.” It is so important you memorize
and internalize the 7 E’s you will be taught
today. We’ve talked about motivation and
how to stay motivated, but what happens
when you simply lose faith and belief in
yourself that you can do what you’ve set out
to do? That has most likely happened to you
th
before. E to the 7 Power is the formula that
will explain how we allow those negative
thoughts to take hold of us. Then in the next
part of this lesson you will learn how to get
back on track and remind yourself that those
negative thoughts are only thoughts and that
you have the power to get past them. It’s a
powerful formula. So here we go.
“E TO THE 7 POWER.”
TH
The first E stands for “Entrance.” This is
referring to when a negative thought enters
your brain. The first thing to understand is
that we can’t stop negative thoughts from
entering our brain. Anyone who tells you that
you can is not telling you the truth. You’re
going to deal with it every day. You’re going
to think; maybe I deserve that bowl of ice
cream at ten o’clock at night. Or, I really don’t
feel like doing that last set of curls. Or maybe
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent
or praiseworthy--think about such things." — Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
I’ll watch just one more hour of television.
Or perhaps I’ll skip my devotional time today.
Whatever change you’re working on, that
trigger or craving to fall back into a negative
habit is going to come back over and over
again. This is the entrance of a potentially
destructive thought.
The second E stands for “Entertain.”
Once the thought enters your brain you
begin to think about it. You make a cognitive
decision to entertain that thought. By way
of illustration it’s like that thought is a bird
landing on your head. You can’t really do
anything about the bird flying over and
perching on you. But the question is, will you
entertain the intentions of the bird? Will you
let that bird build a nest on your head? Will
you let it lay eggs and nurture the babies
that are hatched later? You can’t stop the
bird from swooping down on you, but you
can definitely stop it from creating a home
on your head. You can’t stop the thoughts
from entering your brain, but you can
stop short of entertaining those thoughts.
Entertaining those thoughts is where the
path to mental destruction begins.
The third E stands for “Examine.” This is
when you begin to rationalize the negative
thought. You think to yourself, one little
scoop of ice cream won’t cause that much
damage. But we know that’s a trap. As soon
as there is a crack in your armor, that bad
habit will start to rear its ugly head again.
A small scoop of ice cream becomes a big
scoop of ice cream. That big scoop of ice
Lesson 4: Part 1
cream becomes two big scoops of ice cream.
And so forth and so on until you’re right
back where you didn’t want to be. Examining
a thought is pivotal in the “7 E’s” because
allowing ourselves to justify that first step
backwards inevitably leads to the proverbial
slippery slope.
The fourth E stands for “Enjoy.” Once
you’ve allowed your mind to rationalize this
negative thought that has led to a negative
decision, you begin to remember how much
you enjoyed this negative behavior, even
though you knew it was bad for you. All of
us humans struggle with this. The enjoyment
factor is one of the biggest reasons why
so many of us don’t break bad habits. It’s
easy to go back to something that gives
us pleasure. But it is for this reason that
we talked about the Pain Association
Transfer technique in the previous lesson.
All positive change is going to be painful or
uncomfortable in some way, so you begin
to enjoy the negative thoughts because it
takes the pressure off. Then you find yourself
thinking things like, “my grandfather didn’t
really amount to much; my father wasn’t any
better, so I guess I am not really that special
and I’m not going to amount to much either.”
This kind of thinking allows you to just sit
back and wander through life, instead of
living to your full potential. Don’t fall into
the pattern of enjoying the easy road.
The fifth E stands for “Experience.” The
destructive thought has entered your mind,
you’ve entertained it, examined it and you’ve
enjoyed the mental break it gives you. Then
you take that thought and begin to verbalize
it, which gives even more power to the habit
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