I don't think we talk enough about the voices in our heads. I'm sure we're talking around them when we're uncertain about the state of the country or annoyed by what someone close to us did. But recognizing those voices on an individual basis requires a bit more focus.
Every moment of every waking day your mind is chattering on. Sometimes you notice it, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you just go along for the ride, but other times, if you just sit quietly enough for a minute, you can see how scrambled the signal can be.
I remember when I experimented starting a regular meditation practice many moons ago, my mind would make a desperate attempt to get a reaction. I would notice and try my best to release the thoughts about how to spend my day or how my body felt at the moment, and then my mind would dig deeper for some stranger thoughts to throw out. I'd be reminded of a time I bullied someone in my childhood. Or my very short stint working at Blockbuster. Or a quiet picnic lunch I had one time in Canada.
But the best, and arguably the most challenging, characteristic about this whole slot machine of thoughts is that you can decide how to decipher them. You don't need to believe everything you think.
A woman named Cecilia once shared a frightening example of this on an episode of Special Books by Special Kids, a YouTube interview show with people in the disability and neurodiversity community. Cecilia explained to Chris, the interviewer, the circumstances of her life with schizophrenic hallucinations, and how she lives with regular visions of a violent clown.
Fuck.
Of course, it's an extreme example of an unfortunate disorder, but I think it stands to show us we can harness this incredible strength too. We can decide how to interpret the world around us. We can choose not to overreact. Your initial observation doesn't need to be your final conclusion. You can take a minute and a breath. You can ask yourself some questions.
And I find that to be the weirdest and also the most powerful part. You can question yourself. Your mind can fire off thoughts left and right, but you still have the ability to wonder right back, "Is that true, or am I just hungry?" Or, when faced with a particularly complex problem, you can ask yourself what author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss regularly prescribes, "What would this look like if it was easy?"
Beyond the questions for your spastic, bubbling mind, there is the ability to get ahead of everything with the power of intention. You might anticipate your mind to act in a certain way but you can choose to drown it out. In a study out of the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, researchers found that cyclists coached in encouraging self-talk could stave off their personal exhaustion levels longer than those without. Basically, they learned to focus on encouraging words, or mantras, like "feeling good", to almost coax their mind that exhaustion was not a necessary option at the moment.
I'm sure there is so much more to what I'm trying to say, but I'm glad to get this bit out. To know that just a few words could turn the tide is reassuring. It's simple but it's not always that easy. But, hey, at least I'm feeling good.
With that being said, why not let your mind ponder the best finds of the week?
Gary Vaynerchuk can be a polarizing character, but I think video rings true to the anxious ambitious types and it's worth watching Watch This Before You Make Another Decision (video)
Kelly Stamps drops some sassy modern philosophy with how i remain unbothered (video).
We all know I adore Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. His latest video (Why You Will Never Be Completely Happy) brings down the hammer on the hedonic treadmill and explains how we might be able to jump off it.
And if you liked that, check out Ryan Holiday's latest - You Must Live an Interesting Life
Until next time...