Why You Should Be More Aware of Your Thoughts
If you were once like me, I’m sure you’ve struggled with anxiety, stress, and depression, all too common in our modern society. To drown out the chatter, I turned to alcohol, weed, and doom scrolling through social media. Unfortunately, these temporary distractions only exacerbated my underlying fears, contributing to my eventual illness. I believe this was one of the main reasons why I became so sick; I wasn’t finding healthy ways to deal with my stress. After this wake-up call, I realized it was time to seek change. So what was the answer? It was simply becoming more aware of my thoughts. Though I’m far from perfect and still experience setbacks, this practice has led to great progress. So here’s what worked for me, and I encourage you to give it a try.
Why are humans so fearful?
If you're anything like me, you’ll realize that most of your thoughts are fear-based. I would say 95% of my thoughts are fear-based, with the remaining 5% driven by desires.
For example, it’s easy for me to imagine the worst-case scenario in situations. My mind automatically defaults to the worst outcomes before even considering the possibility of success. Additionally, I grapple with self-doubt. Of course, when I’m writing this blog post, I’m going to question my abilities as a writer. Am I doing that good of a job here? Am I making the impact I want to make? Will people think I’m dumb? Why can’t I work faster?
Evolutionarily speaking, it made sense to be fearful. It was how our ancestors survived. For example, a person is roaming in the Jungle and they hear noises in a bush. 9 out of 10 times, it’s a rabbit, and 1 out of 10 times it’s a tiger. The optimist will catch a rabbit 9 out of 10 times but die on the 10th. The pessimist survives every time.
If we look at modern society, a lot of it is ruled by fear. All around the world, we see human suffering, anger, revenge, addictions, violence, and injustice.
The problem is, that it is a lot safer in modern society and these fears are pointless. They keep people from growing and lead others to waste enormous amounts of time and energy. We have to find more ways to be in control of our unnecessary fears that are rooted in our genes.
Three Methods to Own Your Fears
1. Watch your thoughts throughout the day
The first method is just to watch your thoughts throughout the day. As you do, you’ll notice how many of them are fear-based. Over time, these daily recurring fears begin to lose their potency as you recognize their patterns. You will realize you have seen these fears before, and guess what, you're fine and you're still alive. Your mind will start to quiet slowly but surely. Don’t measure things day by day or you will lose patience. This is a year-by-year thing and you’ll notice all the progress you made just from this simple method. So stay consistent.
The other route to being more aware of our thoughts is to make more time to be undistracted and alone. I try to carve out 30 minutes 3-4 times per week, for this purpose, whether through meditation or journaling
2. Meditation
For meditation, I follow a method shared by Naval Ravikant. Simply sit or lie down, close your eyes, and allow your thoughts to flow freely. If you think, you think. If you don’t think, you don’t think. Just don’t put any effort into it.
This is where you will start to see this mad machine in operation. You’ll most likely realize your mind isn’t that relaxed. You will come to face all these past traumas, imagined scenarios, and unresolved issues. There will be constant chattering going on up there. It is funny to watch after a while because they are the same silly patterns over and over again.
The problem is, we have these thoughts all day long without even noticing them. The internal monologue is always running in our heads. We are worried about the past and future, and our minds are making up scenarios on how bad things could go or how different they should have been. This chattering of our minds takes us out of the present moment. We’re not the calmest and best versions of ourselves for our loved ones, family, friends, work, etc.
After meditating for a while and letting your thoughts run, you will start to feel a certain distaste towards these thoughts. Once you see the same negative thought patterns, you will start to separate yourself from them slowly but surely. Ask the question why are my thoughts so out of control? Why is my mind running all the time? You might be embarrassed to answer. It will create separation and you realize you don’t want to be that person anymore. So awareness alone will calm you down.
Additionally, when your mind is in awareness mode, it allows you to watch the fears pop up and go by and dissipate. When you're in awareness, your emotions don’t latch on to these thoughts as intensely as they would normally. You are more worried, frightened, and anxious when you are oblivious to the chattering.
“Meditation is turning off society and listening to yourself”
“Time spent undistracted and alone, in self-examination, journaling, and meditation, resolves the unresolved and takes us from being mentally fat to fit.”
-Naval Ravikant
3. Journaling
Journaling is another powerful tool for healing our inner worlds. By putting your thoughts down on paper, you externalize your internal world, making it easier to analyze and understand.
In my experience, I’ve found journaling to be a great release mechanism. Writing provides a great space to express and relieve pent-up emotions. Writing has allowed me to release negative emotions which prevents them from becoming overwhelming. Every time I write about a problem I’m dealing with, I feel like a little piece of its negative energy is chipped away and released from my body.
If you have trouble dealing with past traumatic experiences, journaling has proven to be beneficial. According to a study done by James Pennebaker, simply journaling about a traumatic experience for as little as 15-20 minutes per day can produce measurable changes in physical and mental health.
So as you become more aware of your thoughts, your mind will naturally start to calm over time. I’m nowhere near perfect, but watching my thoughts, meditating, and journaling for about a year has put me in a way better place than I was before. I think these small weekly practices have played a big role in getting my health back, and I underestimated the impact thoughts have on our health. So awareness is the path to a calmer mind. Try these methods out and see how you feel; they could make a great difference for you.
Action steps:
Watch your thoughts as your day goes on.
Make more time to be undistracted and alone.
Meditate - Sit down and close your eyes. If you think, you think. If you don’t think, you don’t think. Just don't put any effort into it.
Journal
