Are you sometimes afraid to act? Do you freeze when it’s time to put your plans into action? Do you feel you spend too much time in your head?
Well, you’re not alone. Many of us spend so much time thinking. We think about what is supposed to happen, what might happen, or what did happen.
We think, think, think.
Thinking is great, but we can sometimes get overwhelmed with it. I know I do.
When I do get overwhelmed, I remember thinking is just the first part. It’s great to think but to get what we want, need to act. We need to get out and do things.
Here are three great reasons to get out of your head and ACT!
Reason Number 1 – You Have a Body, Use it
Recently I’d found myself struggling with how to have a difficult discussion with a couple of friends of mine. In thinking about it, I found myself filled with confusion, anxiety and lots of concerns. The result was a tangled mess of mental knots. It began to feel like going down a rabbit hole. One thing leads to another and another. All the scenarios were in my head, but they felt real.
I reached the point where I had lost my focus on the discussion, and my emotions and the made-up scenarios became the bigger issue. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in this situation.
For me, getting out for a bicycle ride is a powerful way to regain a clear head, and along the way restore confidence in my thinking. It enables me to clear out the cobwebs that trap all those confusing thoughts. It also stops me from replaying my old tapes. Those silly tapes that keep me in a loop and limit me from taking a broader perspective of all the great things in my life. I find that the physical act of riding my bike loosens my mental gears, and thoughts begin to flow easier.
It’s not so much what I do – ride, walk or gardening that matters. The important part is getting out of my head and using my body to express myself. Every hill I climb and every block I walk gets me out into the world and closer to some objective of mine.
Reason Number 2 – You Can’t Accomplish Anything by Just Thinking
As powerful as your mind is, just sitting and thinking isn’t enough. We live in a physical world that responds to our actions.
If you watch children play, you can see the importance of action. They run and jump, laugh and shout. They wear you out with all their energy.
They don’t sit around and wonder what to do and how they should do it. That only happens as they get older and spend more time thinking and less time doing.
They live in the moment. Knowing and acting rather than wondering, worrying, and thinking.
We interact with the world physically. It’s difficult to move a stone with your mind, but it’s easy with the flick of your finger.
Reason Number 3 – It’s Not What You Do, It’s Why You Do It.
While we say thinking is not enough, it is important. Your motivations, expectations, and of course your beliefs, are critical to achieving what you want.
If you act in concert with what you believe and expect, everything seems to flow.
But even if you are unsure of what to do, doing is better than not doing.
If you aren’t sure, pick something easy and do it. The positive feedback from checking something off your list and making progress will empower you. Simply getting off the couch (and out of your head) and going for a walk, or out with friends, counts as action. Even making a phone call or text to those friends and catching up counts too.
The cycles we create and perpetuate in our head can bury us with doubt and inertia. The unmistakable act of doing something physical can free us from the limits we put on ourselves.
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Thank you for reading. If this resonates with you, please let us know and share the e-mail with a friend (yes, those both count as actions!).
Peter & Beth
You Can Choose
