A couple of things that have (re)occurred to me recently…
“Other People Don’t Have Opinions”
For me it’s a terrific reminder about the power of thought. I’m sure we’ve all felt the same as Amy’s friend from time to time. I know I have.
But the more I get connected to and appreciate the power of thought the easier it becomes not to be dragged down by the unhelpful ones.
In particular, I remind myself not to take thoughts at face value and give myself permission not to believe all of them, and certainly not act on all of them.
My experience is that most thinking can and should be dismissed in an instant, it’s just brain chatter.
Further, paying attention to my internal monologue gives it life and keeps it there. That, in turn, blocks the insights and wisdom that’s just waiting in the wings to come through.
I find there’s a marked difference between helpful, insightful thinking and unhelpful, impulsive thinking.
They have a different quality, one is urgent the other isn’t, one feels heavy the other doesn’t, one has you feeling lighter the other doesn’t.
One feels right the other doesn’t.
I recommend really paying attention to thoughts and thinking. A better approach is a heartbeat away.
How to get a better outcome?
We seem to be encouraged to strive to make smarter, better decisions, to be proactive, to try harder.
My own experience is that eliminating simple and silly errors produces much better results.
Simple mistakes are easily identified and rectified and generally effortless.
“Better decisions” need effort and are not easily identified.