The consequence of a thought

Thought creates feeling, and feeling creates action.

Imagine this scenario: I wake up in the morning and immediately think of all I have to do today, it's a long list, and the thought comes "How will I ever get all this done?", quickly followed by "Mary always looks so in control, and she's busier than me, why am I such a failure, when will I ever get it together?" In response to this thought, my heart sinks, my shoulders slump, my head feels heavy. I feel tired already, so I turn over and go for a snooze. When I wake, it's late and I think "sure half the day is gone, what's the point??", so I stay in bed feeling miserable and nothing gets done, so I set myself up for the same crappy day tomorrow.

This is the power of thought. The thought "How will I ever get all this done?" began by lowering my mood and stealing my motivation, and then the feeling of having no motivation hijacked my morning.

Now imagine an alternate scenario: I wake up in the morning and immediately think of all I have to do today, it's a long list, and the thought comes "How will I ever get all this done?"

This time, instead of letting that thought dictate my experience, I immediately step in and ask myself "Where will this thinking take me?". I see that if I allow this thought to run it will take me down a dark path where I get nothing done, and the false idea that I am a failure because I can't get stuff done and Mary can is reinforced.

Instead, I can remind myself that of course I can get things done, and that even if it all isn't done by evening, that doesn't make me a bad person, and, that I am worth the effort to do the work of choosing to think and act differently. (This may take effort, is can be difficult to act against a feeling, but the more we do it, the easier it becomes.)

Try this out this week, and see what changes. The hardest part will be remembering to do it, we are creatures of habit. But if you can find a way to remind yourself, such as a post-it by the bed, or maybe a screenshot on your phone saying - where will this thinking take me? - you can develop a new habit.