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To reduce stress, increase your mind space

Stress manifests for each of us in different ways. Whether you experience stress in a very physical way in your body or more of an overall attitude slump, the cause is always your mind. 

Our thoughts create our feelings. So if we’re feeling stressed, we’re having stressful thoughts.

Or perhaps we’re just having too many thoughts in general. What do you notice about your thinking patterns when you’re stressed?

Noticing your thoughts is the first step towards creating some mind space for yourself. If you can notice or observe your thoughts, you are not your thoughts. There opens up some gap where you can be the observer and be less attached to the thoughts.

That’s why mindfulness and meditation are so helpful in reducing stress. These practices help create more of what I like to call mind space.

Today I’d like to share with you 4 different practices that can help you to create more mind space and reduce your stress. You can easily integrate all of these practices into your routine, but if you are starting out, maybe just try implementing one practice for a few weeks to start with.

  1. Download your thoughts
    Write your thoughts out. Get them out of your mind! You can do this by journaling or simply by doing what I call a thought download. You can choose a specific project/goal to write about or focus on your current situation generally. You basically write all of the thoughts you have about that situation down. All of the thoughts, without editing.  This gets rid of all the thoughts rolling around in your mind clanging like marbles and creating noise.
  2. Meditate
    You can’t overestimate the value of meditation to your short and long term mental health. I say start today if you don’t already meditate! If you’re a beginner, it might be best to start with a guided meditation and then over time progress to just focusing on your breathing and not thinking. This requires practice. The whole point is to focus your awareness in the present moment and spend less time thinking. 
  3. Use the Focus Technique
    This is a very simple but effective exercise. Again, it has similar principles to meditation. You are to focus your attention and observe without thinking or feeling. Here are the steps:
    – Select a small personal object that you like a great deal. It might be an item of jewellery, an ornament or  a favourite tool for your hobby.
    – Focus all your attention on this object as you inhale and exhale deeply for 1-2 minutes.
    – While you’re doing this exercise, try not to let other thoughts or feelings enter your mind. If they do, just return your attention to the object. Observe it closely and breathe.

4. Find your out-of-mind activity
There are many activities that help us to become more present in our bodies and/or be “in flow” when we are not thinking at all. These activities are usually a physical or creative practice eg. running, yoga, dancing, cooking. Think of an activity that you can get so wrapped up in that you are no longer thinking or taking in information. You are just in the moment and there is no mind chatter going on. When you find your activity, you simply need to do it regularly! This will help you to remain present, as well as create and maintain mind space.

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What you think is creating your business results

What do you think is creating the results in your business right now?

I pose this question because the more you understand this, the more results you can create, right? Can you answer that question succinctly and with complete confidence? You might have a list of factors that you think are all contributing to your business success (or lack of success) at this point. And, you would be right in assuming that there are a number of factors at work here. 

However, do you know that these contributing factors all lead back to just one basic, yet important factor?

Your marketing strategy, sales funnel, customer service and product quality may all influence your business results. But these influences all lead back to just one important thing. This one thing is the foundation for change and growth within your business. It’s also the most powerful (and sometimes complex) tool that you have.

Your thinking and the way you use your thoughts is what creates results in your business.

I am not referring to the “keeping positive” thoughts approach. I am talking about real cognitive awareness and understanding how your thoughts literally translate into business results.

Here is the way your mind works:You observe your circumstance and have a thought about it. That thought creates an emotion and/or a behaviour. Your emotion might influence your behaviour or vice versa. So your behaviours, whichever way you look at it, all originate from your thoughts.

When we are talking about creating business results, we are talking about specific actions you are taking to get those results. And underneath those specific actions there originates specific thoughts influencing your actions.

Are you aware of those thoughts? 

If those thoughts are creating your behaviours that create your business results, then it makes sense to get to know them a little better, right? This is what I recommend for everyone. Regardless of where your business is at. Developing cognitive awareness is a skill you can develop and use to create the business results that you want. 

If you want more. If you want bigger results. Then you need to do something different. Doing something different starts with your thinking. Creating something more starts with your thinking.

If you can become aware of your thoughts about your business, about your outcomes and your own abilities, then that’s the first and biggest step to creating more for your business.

I don’t want you to overlook the significance of this and the depth of impact it truly has. I don’t want you to skim the surface and respond to this all with a“yes, I know, I believe I can do it” reaction. That will not help you. I am going to ask you the harder questions, to get you the better insights.

To truly understand your thinking about your business, start by answering the following questions:
What do I think about my business? eg. Do I think it is easy or hard? Do I think it is enjoyable or not? What do I think is possible for my business?What is not possible for my business? How come it’s not possible?What do I think about the day-to-day tasks?