“Should I have said that?” you think—and spiral into a recap of every conversation since kindergarten you messed up.
“What if this doesn’t work out?” you think—and your mind starts dishing up every thing that could go wrong, and then some.
“What’s wrong with me?” you think—and your mind brings you all the ways you’re off.
You’re always on call for every thought.
They say “jump!” and you immediately set an Olympic high jumping record.
You don’t even realize you obey your thoughts like a dutiful servant.
You just follow them wherever they want to take you.
As if they’re your sherpa on Mount Everest.
You know you’re tired.
Of always planning, managing, thinking ahead.
Of putting out fires that haven’t even started.
And you can’t remember the last time your shoulders weren’t tense.
It would be great if you could stare at the sunset without mentally running over every detail of tomorrow’s meeting.
If you could indulge in bingeing your favorite show without guilt nagging in the background.
But that’s probably not possible.
Business and life demand too much of you for that.
You only have 24 hours to pay your taxes; you need to scrape together some courage to decline the invitation to a party you don’t want to go to; and your new robot vacuum cleaner still needs to be installed.
But …
What if you don’t follow every thought into whatever dark alley they try to draw you into?
What if you just … don’t reply?
What if you sent all your fears to voicemail?
Next time a thought beckons you into a dark alley—just don’t go. Stand there.
See what happens.
See if you can watch a sunset without going over mental checklists.
See if you can binge a show without the guilt.
I can tell you that it’s possible, but why take my word for it?
Just see for yourself, while I go back to staring at the blossom blowing from the tree, dancing in the sky, without a care in the world.
Love,
P.S. In private coaching you stop being the full-time manager of your mind.
Mental load lightens. Your shoulders un-tense.
And you can binge your favorite show without a side dish of guilt.
P.P.S. Liked this blog?
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