Do Your Thoughts Define You?

I came across a quote from Eckhardt Tolle’s book The Power of Now, which prompted me to analyze our thoughts in today’s post:

“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly — you usually don’t use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease. You believe that you are your mind. This is the delusion. The instrument has taken you over.”

So, are you your thoughts? If your answer is yes, then which thought are you? Are you the thought you had yesterday afternoon while driving home? Or the one you had this morning as you were sipping your coffee? Or perhaps you are the final thought you have before you go to bed each night? Throughout time great philosophers have tried to define thoughts: Platon, Aristotle, Descartes… but today’s most common definition is: the act of thinking about or considering something, an idea or opinion, or a set of ideas about a particular subject. We must not forget that thoughts are anything that you can perceive through your senses or that you are aware of is an object of your awareness, and therefore not you. In other words, your thoughts are learned responses to stimuli.

Do you know the content of your thoughts? Do you sometimes say, “Well, that is the most ridiculous thought I’ve ever had”? Do you judge whether a thought is a good thought or a bad thought? I do, so I assume, you do too. So, if we use our logic, we can conclude that we are not our thoughts. Our thoughts are certainly part of us, they come from us, but we are not our thoughts. Have you ever woken up in the morning and said to yourself, “I am not going to think today, I am too tired”? No, of course not. Just as breathing happens and is constant, thoughts happen, and they are also constant.

We know now that thoughts, ideas, memories, and mental models are wired together in our neural net. Because of this, our thoughts tend to reinforce our existing mental models, and vice versa. It is a mutually perpetuating and reinforcing system that can keep us locked into old ways of thinking and responding. Our minds rely on familiar, comfortable patterns, which limit our ability to respond objectively. In addition to supporting our mental models, thoughts themselves have a significant impact on our lives, moment to moment, every day. Have you noticed that the content of many of your thoughts is self-judgment, negativity, and anticipating the worst? Like I spoke about in one of my recent blog articles regarding the imposter syndrome. Sometimes these thoughts can be very limiting, unproductive, even harsh. There are times when we are just not very kind to ourselves.

The good news is: we can control our thoughts and there are more and more tools out there for you to do so. Meditation, exercise, mindfulness and NLP aren’t just trends. If learned and used correctly, they can change your way of thinking and ultimately, your life. Remember that a thought is harmless unless we believe them and act on them. Since thoughts are an object of your awareness, you have the power to challenge every thought. You can decide if you want to make that thought real. You can decide if you want to pay attention to that thought, change the thought or ignore it.

If you want to learn more, feel free to contact me. I am happy to share some tools with you!

Thank you for being here. Godspeed!