Mind your head

It's Monday again and you think that another stressful week is ahead of you and you already don't know how to manage it all? Once you start thinking these thoughts your mind will create all of the potential scenarios of what could go wrong and once that process has been kicked off, you will get the negative emotions attached to that perspective. It's also very likely that you haven't thought that thought for the first time, as your brain is easily following your wishes to produce potential threatening scenarios for you to take care of.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Even if your week is packed with meetings and other responsibilities that don't really float your boat, the question always is: Can you rephrase what you just thought and give it a different spin? Don't take your thoughts lightly, especially when they're producing uncomfortable emotions. Your subconscious mind is a "yes!" machine and will suck up everything you think and say. Your brain is creating neural networks for everything you're doing repeatedly and if worrying is the name of the game, your brain will make sure to get better at it.

Reframing your reality is a big part of becoming more resilient. Instead of thinking "I can't take the stress anymore!", you could reframe it into "I can tolerate stress and I am getting better and better at it. Every day I am learning a little more to gain clarity amidst the biggest chaos. Sometimes I am being challenged by my workload, but this is only teaching me to take care of my own energy."

The trick with this kind of thought Kung Fu is to catch your thoughts in the early stages. In the beginning you will feel like you're cheating as you are clearly just describing objective reality, but that's not true. You are describing your tainted perspective of objective reality. The answer to the above questions is almost always: YES! No matter what you think or say, there's always a more empowering version for you to find.

"Rule your mind or it will rule you." — Horace

Focussing on problems makes them expand. What you want is to focus on the good parts and create automatic thinking patterns that work for you and not against you. The more you think the new thought the stronger the momentum gets and the more likely it is that your brain is activating the new networks the next time. Start thinking the thoughts that make you feel good and think less of the ones that don't make you feel good. Even if they're convincingly telling you that it is important to think them.

Your body and mind have a default state and that's health and well being. Your body and mind are always trying to revert to the natural state and all you need to do is to remove the resistance to it. Thinking negative thoughts and creating negative emotions is resistance to that state. Focus on what's good in your life and on the things that are working and you will see that most problems solve themselves or disappear once they move out of your focus. Your conscious attention and your perspective on reality are the only things you can control. Make good use of it!

Have a great start into the week and let me know how you have reframed your mindset this morning. Would love to hear it!

Much love,

Jan