What’s the one underlying bad idea running your day? I certainly had one. It runs automatically in the background. It’s always there. That’s why you don’t see it until it’s pointed out to you. It sits in the background as an energy of frustration, discontent or resentment.
Mine was,
“there’s not enough time
in the day to do X, Y, Z”.
Or to put it another way,
“there’s no time to do all the
things I want to do”.
What loop do you have playing in the background?
Now, your background loop will most likely be totally different. (Hint ~ It will color many of your thoughts and actions.) It could be along the lines of ~
- If I could quit this job I’d be so much happier.
- If this didn’t happen in my past, then I’d be …
- I didn’t achieve my goal of …. therefore I’m ….
- If I didn’t have all these commitment I’d be able to ….
- If you had done this ….. I would be able to be happy right now.
- People never appreciate what I do.
The Consequence of My Bad Idea
When I had my loop of “there’s no time to do all the things I want to do” running in the background it added a lot of tension! I’d feel as if I wasn’t ever getting enough done. I would put so much pressure on myself. I’d work with a forceful and urgent energy.
My aim was to be more productive, but it made me less. My stress went up and I got tired more quickly. Then I’d go into overwhelm. When you go into overwhelm you shut down a substantial amount of your brain’s capabilities (approx. 50%), and it takes up to 45 minutes for those resulting chemicals to leave your body.
I’d get to the end of a day’s work and think about all the things I still needed to do, rather than being happy with my accomplishments. My brain would be tired and spinning.
My belief of “there’s not enough time in the day to do it all” was running deep in the background behind all the other thoughts, hiding. The driving force behind other thoughts.
For example, I’d question whether I had time to do exercise that day. Even though exercise gives you more energy, helps you stay happy and supplies a ton of blood, nutrients and oxygen to the brain. I mean, exercise is essential for a successful life, and I’d be questioning it. Go figure that out.
And I’d get stressed if my 10 minute break took longer than I planned. I’d get frustrated with jobs (like technical stuff on my website which is not my forte) that took a lot longer than planned. It can be hard enough learning a new skill. But I was lacing it with a need to do it faster and a frustration that it was taking longer than I wanted it to. As a result, I didn’t properly learn the new skills in my rush to get it done.
In short, I put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself that was not good for the mind or the adrenals. Or anything really.
Now, I am calmer. I do my work with confidence, even though it may be hard. My breaks are not spent thinking about work. I still have a tendency to not switch off properly when I am having a break, but I am working on that. Overall, I get a lot more done by the day’s end and my brain is happy at the end of the day. It’s not in overwhelm and spinning. I chose my priorities with my life and work, and stick to them. In short, I’m happier, healthier, calmer and more productive.
Action Item
What is one bad idea that runs as your background loop? Understand this loop is keeping you from happiness and creating unnecessary discontent or frustration or resentment. Eckhart Tolle believes that we hold onto it because we think that our resentment or discontent will somehow change the situation. Let me be clear. It does not. It is not serving you or serving your loved ones.
Refer to the list to get you started. Don’t over think it. All you have to do is ask yourself what one bad idea is running your day. It will be glaring obvious.
Once you have identified it do a quick 5 minute brainstorm. Ask yourself how does this background loop affect my life?
Choose a better idea that will serve you. Also, spend the rest of the day noticing when that background loop, or associated thoughts pops up.
Now, mine still comes back on occasions. My mind wants to go back to that familiar routine. Even though I’ve released it, there is still the old worn out pattern to deal with. It’s a left over neuroplastic pattern in my brain and the less energy I give it, the smaller it will become. The actual neural pathway will get smaller and we are less likely to trip into that circuit so to speak. So, don’t stress if it comes back. Just deal with it calmly and confidently.
When it does trip me up I see it straight away. I’m aware of it now. Not a biggie. Sorted.
Best,
Monique
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