Way of thinking
Publications in newspapers and magazines, self-development literature, even posts on social networks - everywhere you can find simple articles marked “The Mind of a Rich Man.” Therefore, we can confidently say that it is precisely the characteristics of thinking that distinguish happy people from unhappy people, and rich from poor.
To change your life, you must first understand the reason why you are not happy with it. And for this you need to put your thoughts in order. How to do it? To be honest, it's not that difficult. This is necessary so that, having gained strength, you can rush into battle again, but not step on the same rake, but actually change something in your life and achieve your cherished goal called “happiness.”
Some people mistakenly believe that to achieve their goals you need to develop willpower. But you can’t go far on it alone, it’s good for a “sprint,” but life and the process of achieving a goal is not a marathon. Therefore, first you need to understand yourself and your thoughts, understand what you really want. In pursuit of your true dream, you cannot fuss; only daily small steps without violence against yourself gradually give results.
Deep breathing
Qigong is not only the least traumatic gymnastics, but also one of the most successful techniques for overcoming stress.
Shallow squats are accompanied by arm swings and special breathing. The technique is easy to master without preparation at any age and after the first lessons you can feel how your physical and emotional state improves. Eighteen basic exercises help you control your breathing and stop your internal dialogue. If you exercise once or twice a week, then in a stressful situation it will be enough to restore your breathing rhythm and imagine yourself doing the exercise in order to quickly come to your senses and tune in to the work atmosphere.
Get Zen
Interesting fact: a person does not even suspect that he is thinking negatively until someone rubs his nose into this problem. Only then does he begin to wonder how to put his thoughts in order.
Firstly, you need to isolate yourself from everything for 1-2 days. Down with the phone, the Internet and work. Secondly, clean your house. Order in thoughts begins with order in your living space.
There are 10 ways to do all this. The following actions, which will be discussed further, will help you put your thoughts in order.
Speak out
It’s good if there are people in your environment with whom you can “talk”, communicate mentally, who are able to listen to you. With them, you can not hide what bothers you, but, on the contrary, share what worries you and prevents you from living a normal life. Often such conversations begin chaotically, but soon you can put your “scattered” thoughts into clear words, and, accordingly, sort them out. Just don’t abuse the goodwill of your family and friends, don’t overload them for minor reasons. If you still need to talk it out because you can’t cope with the situation, contact a psychologist: listening to clients is part of his job (as well as unraveling thoughts).
Preparation
Getting rid of trash will help you put your thoughts in order and calm down. Surely everyone has things that “may come in handy someday.” Don't lie to yourself, they won't be useful. The same goes for old notes, drafts, notes to yourself, and so on. Psychologists say that by freeing oneself from this garbage, a person prepares his subconscious to create something new.
The second thing you need to do is mentally prepare yourself for change. To do this, you need to imagine an ideal image of your future life. Try to feel like the person you once wanted to become - healthy, successful, loved and truly happy.
Don't omit connections
Continuing the story of my client, I would like to note an important point: when the mother realized that her son was unconsciously picking up and trying on her destructive phrases: “I feel bad!”, “I’m tired and don’t want anything!”, “I’m falling apart after work” – changes began to occur. It is difficult for a child to be healthy and full of strength when his reference point, idol and goddess - his own mother, who gave life, demonstrates every day with her words and actions that it is normal to be deprived of health.
It won't be easy for you to maintain weight if everyone around you is used to eating pies in the evenings. We influence each other. Like attracts like. If we want change, it is important to change ourselves and surround ourselves with like-minded people.
No fuss
To put your thoughts in order, before going to bed you need to make a plan of action for the next day. While a person is sleeping, his subconscious processes the assigned tasks, and he will be able to solve them much faster.
It is worth remembering one important thing: everything that is done is for the better. It often happens that a person desperately wants a certain event to happen in his life. But all his efforts are in vain. The Dalai Lama said that not getting what you want is that unique gift of fate that no one pays attention to. So don't get too hung up on this or you'll miss out on a lot of excellent chances.
Use imagery
The subconscious does not speak the language of logic - it is irrational, and its messages are encoded in symbols. You can communicate with him using visualization of images, emotions, aromas, sounds.
One client came to me with complaints about her son’s pain. We started small, agreeing not to call him “sick”, using the word “recovering.”
In the evening, putting her son to bed, she began to apply creative attitudes:
– You have a strong immune system that can easily cope with viruses and germs;
– You are becoming healthier every day;
- I am happy that you exist! I love you and believe in you!
She learned to encourage him even when he was falling: “How deftly you fell without tearing your arms and legs to blood! Next time you will be even more attentive!”
Watching her son change was simply incredible. After just ten consultations, complaints about his poor health practically disappeared.
Nature
Man's best friend is nature; it is she who best helps to put thoughts and feelings in order. Just as hundreds of years ago, it still calms, inspires and fills us with strength. Therefore, you need to walk more often, and even better, arrange short trips for yourself. Why not take any train on a Friday evening and explore the next village, town or region?
No one returns from travel, even such a small one, the same. A person learns something new, he is filled with positive emotions, and time spent alone with himself makes it possible to better understand his inner world. It may be that while carelessly walking the streets of another city, a person will suddenly be illuminated by an amazing idea that will help radically change his life for the better.
Why is “thought stirrer” dangerous?
Source giphy.com
Why is “thought stirrer” bad and sometimes dangerous? The question is, of course, ambiguous. On the one hand, rehearsing the upcoming speech in our head, thinking through the upcoming important conversation is quite reasonable, because by doing so we build emotional and mental supports for ourselves.
On the other hand, living through all these exciting stories and scenarios, we are faced with a whole series of not the best consequences for ourselves and our lives. Firstly, we are not living our current life, namely: we are not in the moment, we are not aware of who I am, what is happening to me, what surrounds me.
We get “stuck” in past experiences or live through the events of our better future, which, unfortunately, will not come, because the focus of our attention is not “sharpened” on the here and now. Science has long proven that there is only “now,” in which every moment in time becomes the past and every moment in time is our future.
Secondly, this is a colossal drain of energy. We spend a lot of vital energy on this kind of “background thinking” throughout the day, which would be wiser to spend on creative actions in the present.
Are you often bothered by mental confusion?
- Yes((
- Not good.
- No))
Our attention constantly “flows away” following certain thoughts, thus becoming dispersed in a non-existent space. And for those who like to think about the coming sleep, this results in many sleepless nights...
There is one simple truth: where there is attention, there is energy, where there is energy, there is action, where there is action, there is a result!
Books and stationery
How to put your thoughts in order? A book is the best helper. If you are overcome by difficult thoughts, read. A book can take a person from everyday life to another reality, and there, you see, all the answers will be found.
Psychologists also recommend using a method of putting thoughts in order called freewriting. You need to retire to a quiet place, take a piece of paper, a pen and write. Just write. These can be individual thoughts, incoherent words, sets of phrases. The main thing is not to think about what you write. This is such a unique way to express all the painful things, ask questions and get answers to them.
You need to continue this session for about 40 minutes. After that, put the pen down and read what happened. As practice shows, a person really finds the correct answers among a meaningless scattering of words.
Imagine your own head from the inside
When you have the opportunity to lie down or sit comfortably in a chair, close your eyes, do an interesting exercise. Imagine that your head is a warehouse, a repository of thoughts. Among them there are necessary and important ones, and there are also those that are better to get rid of. Imagine that you have started to put things in order in your own warehouse. Draw pictures of how you sort your thoughts, throw unnecessary ones into the bin, put everything on shelves. And, by the way, you find a lot of valuable things in the warehouse, which you place on the most important shelves.
Health
To put your thoughts in order, you need to take care of your health. Often, a feeling of anxiety appears due to the fact that the body lacks some vitamins, there is not enough (or excess) physical activity, the body suffers from nicotine, alcohol and caffeine (in fact, this is not uncommon in the modern world).
Therefore, you need to give up bad habits, go in for sports or meditation (the best option is yoga), include more vegetables and fruits in your diet, while eliminating fried, too spicy and salty foods.
Summarizing
Before planning for the future, you need to deal with the past. If you regularly audit your affairs, it will be much easier. If you haven't done this for a long time or never at all, it will take quite a lot of time and effort, but it's worth it. With a load of unresolved problems, it is impossible to put things in order in your head.
Open your diary and look at what goals you have set for yourself recently. Were you able to achieve your plans? If yes, be sure to note it on paper, in your head. Be sure to praise yourself for your achievements!
If not, then ask yourself: is this goal still relevant now? Perhaps it should be “thrown out” of your head? Do it boldly: believe that not all goals should be achievable, and sometimes it is very important to be able to stop there!
If the desire is still strong, then rewrite it again. There is no need to make implementation plans at this stage. It is only important for us to cut off the unnecessary.
For those who are not used to keeping diaries: look around, ask relatives and friends - let them tell you whether you have changed lately.
Games
Psychologists sometimes advise playing games to calm down and distract from obsessive thoughts. These can be the most common children's yard games, as well as computer shooters, puzzles, racing, etc.
Research has shown that gaming allows a person to abstract from reality for a while. While he is playing, the subconscious is actively working in search of a solution to the problem. In addition, games help relieve nervous tension and release pent-up aggression, which is important if you need to put your thoughts in order.
Changing settings
After you have worked with the past, you can begin to change the present and future. Since our beliefs have a decisive influence on life, then start with them. The human brain is designed in such a way that it constantly looks for ways to save energy. This is precisely the purpose that “programs” serve: beliefs that we accept as axioms and act according to them without thinking. The problem is that for many people these attitudes limit development and prevent them from realizing their potential.
Types of negative “programs”:
- hopelessness (this is basically impossible);
— disbelief (it still won’t work);
- distrust (I'm doing it wrong);
- helplessness (I won’t be able to);
- underestimation (I am unworthy).
Bad news. Negative attitudes are quite difficult to find in yourself, they are so ingrained into the consciousness. Ask for outside help: from a friend, a psychologist, books.
Good news. You can always try to replace negative things with positive ones. For example, instead of saying “I always don’t have enough money,” note successful purchases and investments of recent times and make a new installation - “I know how to earn money for my dreams.”
Concentration exercises
To put your thoughts in order in your head, as practice has shown, you also need to learn to abstract yourself from public opinion. We mentioned above an exercise called freewriting, which helps to throw out all the negative and obsessive thoughts, and then find answers to questions among this chaotic flow. In addition to it, there are special exercises for concentration. Here are a few of the simplest and most interesting:
- Concentration with water. You need to pour water into a glass, take it with your fingers and hold it at eye level. Attention must be focused only on the water - it must remain motionless. You can start from a minute and then increase the interval to 5-6.
- Calm body. The essence of the method is to completely relax while awake. The exercise begins by choosing the most comfortable body position - sitting. Afterwards you need to completely relax so that not a single muscle moves. It's difficult, but over time you will get used to it. It is important to concentrate on the stationary object, and not on the problems. Session duration is 5-15 minutes.
- Listen to the body. The best exercise for concentration is the ability to listen to your body. You need to relax, take a sitting position and start counting your heartbeat. You can hear how it slows down its rhythm, starting to work more slowly and calmly.
You should always do what you like, fill every day with bright emotions and impressions, give up work you don’t like and people who make you feel unhappy. Then you won’t even have a question about how to put your thoughts in order.
Go somewhere
The opportunity to leave home and change the environment at least for a day is a good way to “clear your brain.” As you move away from home, the circle of habitual thoughts is broken, the situation can be seen in a new way, and unnecessary things are automatically removed.
Regular trips to Yekaterinburg usually help me a lot. Being away from home, my thoughts clear, instead of boring or disturbing thoughts about something specific, new ideas appear on how and what can and should be done.
If you have the opportunity to leave home by car and drive through beautiful (and deserted!) places where there is only a road and nature, take advantage of it. This will have a beneficial effect on your train of thought.
