Do you control your thoughts or do your thoughts control you? It’s a good question isn’t it! There are so many people who lose sight of the fact that it is us who are in control – even though most of the time it may not feel like it, the truth is we can choose what we focus on. This is known as compartmentalised thinking. It is a great skill to have to help us cope with the rigours of life but when it comes to running our business I believe it is a vital tool to help us keep our head above the water.
If we don’t take control of our thoughts it’s likely that when something bad happens it can ruin our day… or week or… even our year! Remember, whatever we focus on becomes amplified in our mind so if you focus on a negative it gets bigger. If you continue to focus on it, it will continue to grow until you can’t think about anything else. At this point we have to take control and change our focus. The way I handle a nagging thought is to move that thought to a time when I will allow myself to think about it. So on a Friday afternoon if I have been wrestling with a difficult thought I decide that I am going to think about the difficulty at 9am on Monday morning- I actually put it in my calendar- and in this way I can move it out of my present and stuff it neatly into the future out of the way.
If I can still feel it gnawing away at me I then actively chose to distract myself with an activity that I enjoy doing. Something that is fun to do and positive. In doing this I have successfully moved it away from the forefront of my mind and successfully compartmentalised the thought. I have given it to a time when I can focus on it properly and freed my mind in the meantime. No worries!