No, I didn’t make a spelling mistake and yes, I know this word doesn’t exist, but let me explain further. Throughout the day, you are bombarded with thoughts coming in and out of your mind. Did you know that on average, you have between 60 000 to 70 000 thoughts a day? Thoughting doesn’t require any effort, whereas thinking does.
Thinking is when you make an effort to focus your thoughts on a certain subject or matter, for example. Thinking is like giving your thoughts targeted direction; you put deliberate effort into it and thoughting you don’t. All day, you have thoughts flowing in and out of your mind and your thoughts basically come from your beliefs about this world. We all share the same world, but we really live in different realities and it is your beliefs about the world that have created your reality as you know it.
Thoughts are often unwelcome, we have thoughts that make us feel good and thoughts that make us feel bad, and we even have thoughts that we are embarrassed of having. Your thoughts don’t define you as a person. If a horrible thought pops into your mind, for whatever reason, it doesn’t make you a bad person, it is carrying out that horrible thought that makes you a bad person.
Why does this mean?
1. Not challenging your thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, your thoughts come from your beliefs. Not all the beliefs that you have may be serving you. For example, growing up to believe that it is difficult to make money or having the belief that it is easy to make money, will affect your relationship with money and of course, your financial success. To accept all your limiting thoughts as the truth is peril and it can be self sabotaging. Choose what you want to believe and think about the world you live in, not what somebody else has told you it is. Don’t be a slave to your thoughts.
2. It stops us from being effective communicators
When you are talking to somebody and you are not actively listening to what they are saying, you are undermining the conversation immediately. You know when you are not actively listening because you are entertaining the thoughts that are popping into your mind. When you are talking to someone, have you ever said ‘ah, that reminds me…’ or they say something that makes you start to think about something else, it’s almost like you are looking at the person and you can see their lips moving, but you also having an internal conversation with your thoughts.
3. Lessens your productivity
When you are thoughting more than thinking, you are definitely losing productivity. Why? Because you are responding to random thoughts, which often lead us to procrastinate, distractions and causing us to often lose focus. When you think, you create images in your mind, you are able to explore many more possibilities and options and you can create effective plans and direct your actions more productively. Think of it as being in the driver’s seat, directing your day purposely or being in the passenger’s seat, you have some input but you are actually going wherever you are taken. You need to alter your mind to alter your time.
To be more productive you need to think in the right way and use your mind to purposely create the results you want in life. Most of the time management struggles you might face is because you are responding to your environment instead of purposely creating the environment you want to be in.
Bob Proctor famously says, you cannot always look at your results now and let that determine your next step because the results you have now, are the consequence of your past thoughts and actions. You need to create the results that you want by purposely thinking in the right way.
If you find it difficult to control your thoughts, practice meditation on a regular basis, this can really give you that boost you need to get the focus you want. Check out this amazing guide on Meditation 101: Practices, Postures, and Pretty Much Everything In Between.
Combining mindfulness with yoga is another amazing tool you want to take advantage of – Check out this amazing guide to get started if you are new to Yoga – ‘Ultimate Beginners Guide to Yoga’!
Remember, that not challenging the way you think can be your biggest failure. You are what you think!
Reach out if you need professional guidance to help you overcome your limiting thoughts.
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