Who Is Your GNAT and What Is It Telling You?
Your life story has a narrator—the voices in your head that form the inner Grand Narrator Around Thought (GNAT).
These voices are not you, but parts of your thinking habits. The GNAT, the collective chorus of voices in your head, focuses on keeping you safe by constantly buzzing about social acceptability and past pains. It often defaults to negativity, reinforcing self-critical and fearful thoughts.
KEY POINTS
Negativity as Survival: The GNAT tries to protect you from criticism, rejection, and abandonment by conforming your behavior to what it thinks is acceptable. It replays negative thoughts and memories, creating a narrative that keeps you small and fearful. It even dreads the future, using past assumptions to predict potential dangers.
Taming Your GNAT: You can train your GNAT to work for you instead of against you. By focusing on positive aspects of your life and imagining a fruitful future, you can transform these negative narratives. Specific strategies and deliberate practice can shift your worldview from chronic fear and shame to peace and empowerment.
Experience Real Change: Learn how to harness the power of your GNAT to drive thriving through respect, compassion, acceptance, honesty, forgiveness, self-restraint, and tenacity. Your thoughts shape your beliefs, and with practice, you can create a new, positive reality.