Men have 60.000 thoughts per day in 8-10 waking hours. Women have 80.000 thoughts.
Don’t ask me why women have more thoughts, or how they figured that out 😉 The main thing is that we think—a lot. And the question is: are you thinking about the right things?
If you’re like me you’ve got plenty to do and you want to maximize your time.
In support of that I invite you to do a little exercise. Grab a pen and piece of paper or open up a Word document and make a list of what’s on your mind. Just let it flow—don’t over think—and write it down.
I highly recommend you do this now, before you read on. I know you’re busy, but trust me. This will help.
Once you’ve completed your list: next to each thought or activity write down the feeling that comes up when you read it. Does it make you happy or sad, is it connected to stress or worry, anger, fear or excitement? You get the drift. Go with the first thing that comes to mind—one word is enough.
I trust you’re not cheating and have made your list first. If you haven’t then just jot down five thoughts and the corresponding feelings before reading on 🙂
How many of the things you wrote down are about the past or the future? Glance at your list.
I’m guessing the majority on your list is not something that’s happening right this minute.
We often worry about things yet to come. We regret past decisions, think of what we could’ve done differently…
We spend a lot of time in the past and the future. Very few people are able to live in the moment—day after day, minute after minute.
Thinking about the past is often accompanied by anger, regret, fear and blame.
When you’re focused on the future many thoughts are related to stress, worry and tension.
Is that true for your list?
I know it was for mine. I was actually shocked how many of the items on my list were about things I had already done or still needed to happen. Very little was about what I was actually working on or experiencing. That’s a lot of useless negativity.
If we want to be happy we need to be in the now.
Energy flows where attention goes. If we want to change something about our lives we need to change the way we think. I know you’ve heard it before.
But knowing something is not the same as living it.
We can only create in this moment. That’s where we can make a difference and have impact. This very moment is precious.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
If you want to make a change in your life or the world you need to focus your thoughts on what is happening right this second.
Every time you catch yourself worrying that’s a sign you are not in the present moment. (And you’re feeding something you most likely don’t want in your life—remember the law of attraction!).
Everything starts with awareness and I hope this exercise helps you be more aware of what you focus your time and energy on, and whether or not that is productive and makes you happy. So you can make changes accordingly 😉
Here’s to many uplifting positive thoughts about what we’re doing right now!
PS Want support in releasing the past or reframing the future, so you can base your current thoughts and emotions on a healthy foundation? The Reframe your Life content is now also available via a Virtual Retreat!
So many people who live further away asked about how to get these insights, so I decided to create:
Virtual Retreat Reframe your Life on January 17th
OR
in-person workshop Reframe your Life in The Netherlands on November 30th
Same content, different format! So you can get these insights in-person or virtual (great for when you don’t live in the area 😉
