How to achieve clear thinking? (part one)
Everyday millions of people in the business world stress themselves out in the daily grind of life. They want to achieve clear thinking but amidst the chaos cannot seem to find it.
As they wake each morning their mind is already racing with thoughts like:
- What do I have to do today?
- How can I get it all completed?
- What else do I need to add to the to do list?
- Is it my turn to pick up the kids?
- Who is getting dinner?
- What’s the management team’s incentive?
- How can I develop my relationship better?
- I must improve my health and fitness levels.
And so on.
Yet at no point do they consider how might they relax, unwind, or focus on themselves for a single moment. In fact, relaxation is almost considered a weak attitude to have and appearing selfish.
If you are one of these people at some point you will burnout, the body will give up and the stress and strains of your daily business practices will take its toll on your physical body. This can manifest in an array of ways, headaches, migraines, repeating illnesses and to the extreme heart palpitations and possibly a heart attack – all scary stuff. All of this will bring added adverse responses to how you work and may create a negative impact. However, since the pandemic more people are reassessing their time, what’s important and the emphasis of self-care.
“The best way to succeed is to have a specific intent, a clear vision, a plan of action, and the ability to maintain clarity. Those are the four pillars of success. It never fails.”
Steve Maraboli
You might also wish to pay attention to your children too, with excess pressure at school to overachieve we are seeing a huge shift in their behaviours and physical ailments not to mention the heightened numbers of suicides. It is important to help them understand to work at their level, not feeling the need to compete with their peers and to ensure they set their own goals rather than be under the influence of demanding teachers and tutors (or you as the parent).
Mental stress and anxiety will put added pressure on your brain, body and your personality and it is therefore important to learn how to switch off, take a break and reconnect with some purposeful downtime.
So how do we learn to switch off.
Take a mental holiday
Allow yourself to find a comfortable position to sit in, close your eyes. Set the intention that you are going on a mental holiday by saying out loud ‘I am now going on a mini holiday’. Pay attention to your breathe, breath in and out for ten counts, notice the rise and fall on your abdomen. In your mind’s eye allow yourself to paint a relaxing moment. It might be in the mountains, or by the beach, or a stroll in some beautiful gardens. Let yourself truly connect with all your senses – what you see, smell, taste, sound and hear. Maybe soft green grass under your feet, the sun on your face, the sound of the ocean, the taste of the salt from the sea and the beautiful sun setting on the horizon. When you come to the end of this relaxing exercise allow yourself to come back to your body gently. Stretch, open your eyes, and bring yourself back to your surroundings. If it is difficult to find a place to go to all you need to do is imagine at first, eventually it will come easily. Taking this break for 15/20 minutes a day will help alleviate your cortisol levels and the stress and anxiety will decrease.
Listen to instrumental music
If you find it extremely difficult and challenging to take the mental holiday above another option and one to consider for your children too is to use melodic, instrumental music which will allow your thoughts to flow freely. Again, you can simply sit, close your eyes, and switch on the music or imagine the music to support you. This can provide a calming environment to calm the nervous system and quieten the mind. Experts promote playing classical music to help babies’ brain development when they sleep. Aside from making us smarter, this particular type of music can also promote mental health. In a world in total flux, finding time to listen to classical or to go to the opera can be good for us in more ways than one.
Play a strategy game
Giving yourself some downtime to play games like Sudoku, a crossword or solving puzzles. It will take you away from the problems at hand and therefore support and allow you to tap into a clearer mindset more easily.
“We are dying from over thinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway.”
Anthony Hopkins
Still in need of some added advice and guidance – then book in a Genius Zone Consult to discover what your current challenges are and explore how I can support you in solving those challenges.
Lastly, ask yourself what will you do to bring about clearer thinking today?
And don’t forget to read part two.
