How do we beat the stinking thinking?

Are we saying that we can’t do something or that there is just too much to do and I don’t know where to start? I believe it doesn’t matter what it is, the following is designed to help beat any stinking thinking. To be able to get rid of the white noise that can sometimes cloud anybody’s thinking.  To be able to get to a position where you can see the next step forward. Sometimes remember it is all about the next step and not the finish line.

Remember that everyone has stress and anxiety, it’s a pretty normal condition, and it’s about developing strategies to help identify what is in your control and what is not. If it’s in your control, then put a plan in place and take a step forward.

When you have something in your path that you know is a challenge, I suggest you eat the frogs first. By this I mean dealing with the tough stuff first while you have the most energy and will power available to you. It’s in your control.

If it’s not in your control, recognise that wasting energy worrying about it is wasted energy. Save your energy for what you can control. In other words, things that may affect our positive world view. We have to learn to observe them and say stop it.

When we have a plan to travel somewhere by rail and we go to the railway depot we don’t get on the first train that pulls in. We get on the train that is taking us to the destination we planned to go to.

Why do we allow our train of thought to go off on tangents? We need to stop and observe those thoughts and inclinations that might not be taking us along the path that we had agreed we would take. It might be wasted energy.

Mind full or Mindful, choose the second option. Energy flows where attention goes.

We all have busy minds with thoughts and distractions constantly trying to find their way into our heads.  Just because we have a train of thought does not mean we have to get on that train of thought. This is where planning provides a foundation to stick to the important stuff.

It’s about learning to pay attention on purpose, to what’s important. If you have a plan and believe it’s important the ability to focus should be nearby.

Your thoughts are also like a river – a stream of thoughts flowing by all the time. Practicing mindfulness helps you come out of the water, sit on the river bank and watch the stream of thoughts go by. It helps you identify repeating patterns and see thoughts for what they really are – just thoughts.

Thoughts do not have to become reactive actions or decisions.

If the white noise is there and you are not sure of the next step to take and you notice that your breathing is shallow, firstly put both feet flat on the floor, next place your hands palm down on your legs.  Relax your back into the chair slowly, almost one vertebrae at a time. Close your eyes and breath in to your stomach as deeply as you can, do this through your nose with your stomach expanding and your chest not rising. Breath out through your mouth, contracting your stomach. Repeat 6 times.

Are you able to focus on what’s important now? If so, take the first thing off the to do list?