Written for Latin Business Today
Sometimes, all it takes is a change in perspective to create an entirely different situation.
With the current uncertainty and ever changing economic, political, and financial environment, I am coming across more and more entrepreneurs who are experiencing a negative internal state of being, plagued by negative thought patterns, leading to doubt, fear, ill-health, addiction, and unrealistic expectations of how life “should be” vs. how life really is.
Constantly carrying around negative ideas can physically and mentally drain a person.
The ability to focus our mind on what we want it to requires practice and self-reflection, as that is key to understanding the unresolved thoughts that arise and take up space in our mind. By knowing how to shift our thoughts from the problem to the solution we can imagine the wanted outcomes and ways to get there, instead of pondering ways in which they could fail.
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve” – Napoleon Hill
Before unwanted and often unnecessary thoughts spoil your day and have a detrimental impact on your personal life, it’s critical to become aware of them and have strategies in place to help shift the negative thoughts into positive or constructive ones. Even though it may not seem like it, we have the power to choose which thoughts we allow to affect us, and therefore we have a choice on how we feel throughout our entire lives.
Humans who are experiencing a lot of negativity in their lives tend to act from a state of self-preservation and distrust, this can affect both our personal and/or professional life. However, by simply taking time to ponder and understand our mind, our patterns, thoughts and how we react to our experiences in life, we can use our thought power to foresee situations and solutions instead of focusing solely on the problem at hand. This shift of focus can a have great impact on how much valuable time and mental space we spend imagining useless scenarios, fighting circumstances, attempting to fix issues out of our control, or pondering our likelihood of failure.
Effective leaders develop their ability to remain level-headed and open-minded
This allows them to efficiently perceive solutions and opportunities to situations instead of the problems they create. By focusing their energy on how to act and shift when needed to accomplish their goals, great leaders develop the skills to find ways to create alignment in their personal lives as much as they do in their professional lives and businesses, as they aim to manifest their personal experiences as efficiently as they lead their company and employees to manifest success theirs.
You can do the following exercise to help you notice the state of your mind:
When conversations in your mind are affecting how you feel, take longer breaths, start to slow down your inhales and exhales through your nose.
Give yourself a second of space and ask yourself these five questions:
- Is this scenario true, realistic, or even possible?
- Is this relevant now?
- Can I resolve this?
- Is this serving me?
- Is this something I can resolve?
This logical line of questioning gives your mind a way out of the pattern as your breath creates an interruption where you can now intentionally drive your mind.