Do you ever feel like a prisoner in your own mind?
Do you constantly replay or obsess over negative situations?
Maybe you spend most of your time worrying about details that make you feel helpless and out of control.
The average person has over 50,000 thoughts a day, and more than 80 percent of those are usually negative. The question becomes, how do we stop ourselves from worry and frustration?
The first thing we want to do is recognize that having these thoughts isn’t bad. Many of us believe our thoughts are bad. Therefore, we believe we are bad: “If I think things like this, then I must be wounded or broken. Something is clearly wrong with me.”
But that’s not the reality. This is a trick our ego mind, our fear will play on us. It tries to tell us we are bad, so we feel like we need to be fixed. But when we gain a positive perspective, we see that we are complete as we are. There is nothing wrong with us. We don’t have to believe our thoughts. Start to see them as passing situations that are not part of you but just experiences happening in your life.
When we disengage with our thoughts, we can see that our problems are not problems at all, but pathways to greater understanding and truth.
1. Grasp the Good.
Step one is to disengage with the thoughts by focusing on how you want to feel. Aiming to feel good, to be healthier, to feel inspired is a more beneficial place to be than to saturate yourself in the feelings that make you feel bad. Your goal is to focus on feeling good, and take one step at a time to put yourself into a higher vibration. Your energy is important in protecting your state of mind. Grasp for feel-good feelings, one thought at a time.
2. We Get What We Focus On.
Most often obsessive overthinking happens when we are focusing on situations that we feel we have no control over. We want to be healthier, happier, thinner, richer, in a different place than where we are, but we can’t help but focus most of our energy on what isn’t going well. We feel frustrated because we don’t have the money we want to move forward, or we aren’t reaching our goals as fast as we’d hoped. The endless cycle of feeling not good enough continues. Instead of focusing on what is not working, turn your attention to what you want. Focus all of your energy on feeling good and thriving. Soon enough you will see your life transform.
3. Play the What if Game.
The next thing you can do is play the what if game, which will help you change your focus in each moment. Most of us overthink situations by replaying what isn’t going well. We focus on how stuck or off track we are. We say things like, “What if it doesn’t work out?” “What if I never reach my goal, or fail?” “What if…” becomes our hindering focus. Instead, start to say, “What if things work out for me!” “What if I achieve everything I set out to do?” “What if it goes better than I could ever anticipate?” The what if game is a fun way to get yourself into a place of feeling better ASAP.
You can watch this week’s video filmed in gorgeous Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, for more inspiration and details on this topic.
Thanks Shannon!