Are you focused on this article, or are you thinking about the next item on your to-do list? Maybe you’re wondering about what to have for lunch? You’re out of bread! You need to go to the grocery store before dinner — and the post office. It’s Aunt Jo’s birthday next week. You have to create the mailing label for the package. She moved. Where is her new address?
You stop.
Now you’re wondering what you were doing a few seconds ago.
Don’t let your train of thoughts derail your success and satisfaction.
According to Dr. Benjamin Hardy, writing in Medium, there are no hard-and-fast statistics about how many thoughts we have each day. Estimates run from 12,000 to 60,000. Even if the low end of the estimate is correct, that’s a loooooonnnnnng train to ride.
It’s not just long; it’s probably the most unreliable train in the entire world. We never know where it will take us, and we can’t get off at the next station because there are no stations.
We often find ourselves on it without knowing we got onboard. Suddenly, we’re somewhere we hadn’t planned to go.
The train rolls on and on.
According to Michael Halassa, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, even if we are unaware of our thoughts, we’re always thinking. Sometimes our thoughts are in the background; other times, they’re getting our full attention. In the latter case, we’re on the train of thoughts.
While we can’t stop thinking, we can get off the train and turn our thoughts to something productive and meaningful.
Don’t let your train of thoughts derail your success and satisfaction.
Mindfulness Is the First Stop to Get Off Your Train of Thoughts
There’s a lot about mindfulness today, especially as a way to manage stress. But it has another useful purpose: It wakes us up to the present moment and allows the train of thoughts to go by without getting on.
We don’t have to become masters of meditation to do it. We just have to pay attention.
Mindfulness brings us into the present moment, which is our point of power. The more we focus on what’s in front of us and where we are, the more present we become. We step off the train and leave our random thoughts behind. This helps us produce needed results faster, reduces the possibility of error, and leads to a sense of satisfaction that our time has been well-spent.
So when you find yourself on the train of thoughts to nowhere, stop. Become present in the moment.
Your Senses Are Another Stop to Hop off the Train of Thoughts
Another way to stop the train and become present is to focus on your senses. Do each step as you continue to read. It should take about 5 minutes.
Avoid the tendency to label things; that turns on thoughts. If you catch yourself naming, stop and just experience.
1. What do you hear?
Don’t label sounds, for example, “birds chirping, “air conditioner humming,” “car horn.” Just hear without words. Experience the sounds as sounds.
2. What do you see?
Now observe everything within your field of vision. Don’t just scan your environment, actually look at objects, colors, shapes.
Notice the veins in the plant’s leaves, the nature of the light, the shadows it makes.
Don’t label; just see.
3. What do you smell?
Turn your attention to your nose and inhale deeply. Experience the scents without naming them.
4. What do you taste?
The last sip of coffee? Chocolate? Nothing?
Notice the flow of saliva as it moistens your mouth and gums. Move your tongue around your mouth and experience the variety of sensations.
5. What do you feel?
Touch everything (keep it PG).
Notice textures. Smooth, rough, silky. Pleasant. Weird.
Don’t label. Just feel and experience the sensation.
How quiet is your mind right now?
How does it feel when you get off the train of thoughts?
Hit the Emergency “Stop” Button if You Just Can’t Get Off Your Train of Thoughts
Years ago there was a “Just-Say-No” campaign, aimed at stopping drug use.
It didn’t work.
However, it does work to stop the train of thoughts. It also gives us a tool for reducing the number of times we jump on the train.
Controlling your train of thoughts not only makes you more productive and effective in your work, it has other, more important benefits, especially when our train of thoughts is negative.
Would it surprise you to know that a large part of our thinking is focused on negativity?
According to Michigan State University Extension’s Stress Less with Mindfulness program, “…80 percent of these [daily thoughts] are negative. Luckily, negative thoughts can be recognized and changed with some intentional focus and lots of practice.”
There was a time in my life when my negative train of thoughts was careening dangerously out of control.
First, I had to wake up and notice my thoughts — to think about what I was thinking about. As with all mindless habits, it took effort.
Whenever I caught myself on the train to hell, I snapped a rubber band on my wrist and firmly said, “Stop.”
After a while, I became aware of how destructive and painful my train of thoughts had become. I was able to recognize the train and hop off as it began to move by becoming more mindful.
Don’t let the train of thoughts take you where you don’t want to go.
Become the thinker, not the thoughts.
“You are not a helpless victim of your own thoughts, but rather a master of your mind.” Louise Hay
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