How rich are your thoughts?
The other day when I was doing my long run along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi I had two powerful thoughts.
The first thought was that life is a series of problems to be solved and that if we simply look at individual problems we can solve them very easily.
The second was that there are many ways to be considered wealthy but no one is talking about the currency of thought.
Thought currency is much richer than Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency on the market.
I realized in this moment of clarity that my life is very rich when I have an abundance of thought currency in my life. Think about thought currency as your deepest state of thinking. Each day we have moments of clarity which bring high value thinking to the forefront of our lives. These high value thoughts lead to high value results and voila — you have harnessed the power of your thought currency.
The problem is that way too many of us don’t have enough mental space to reap the benefits of thought currency.
For example, how many of you reading this post are juggling 10,000 items today on your to do list? How about within your job? How many decisions do you need to make today? How many of those decisions are minute decisions? How many are big decisions that affect others around you?
Any decision both big and small repeatedly drains you of thought currency. Simply put, you have the ability to harness your thought currency each day but life brings you down with all of these little fires that need immediate and sometimes an abundance of attention.
An abundance of decisions is just half of the reason why we cannot tap into our daily thought currency. The second biggest reason why we cannot utilize our daily thought currency is because of all the information we have to access each day. It has been said many times that humans now create more information faster than any other time in our existence. We are surrounded by news, social media, noise, ads, apps and reasons to be distracted.
Simply put: An abundance of information = A reduction in thought currency.
So, how do we be proactive and tap into our thought currency each day? Let me share three strategies with you that will help you create a richer life.
Get Quiet
Our lives are too rushed. Too noisy and filled with too many things that are telling us how we should look, live and what we should like. In order to focus in on our highest thoughts, we need to become less distracted on the outward appearance of our lives and on what others are doing. That is way too easy. Tapping into your thought currency isn’t. Shift that energy from distraction to interaction with your deepest thoughts.
Put Tech Aside
Put all tech aside. Studies have shown that when we set aside technology 30 minutes before we fall asleep we actually have a deeper sleep. The same is true for higher thoughts. I often wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea, book chapter, blog or simply a way to solve a problem because while I am sleeping my brain has been unveiling its deepest thoughts. This cannot happen if you sleep or wake up with tech in your face.
Shower
This is great for many reasons but showering (for me) brings out my richest thoughts. I am not sure if it is due to the peacefulness of showering or the fact that I have nothing to distract me but my highest value thinking comes from the warmest showers. For you, it may be reading or simply sitting in a quiet place. Whatever it is you do that will produce your highest thoughts is what you need to spend time doing each day.
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My encouragement for you today is this. Find ways to tap into your deepest thoughts. Harnessing thought currency is vital to creating and sustaining your best life. Stop letting distractions rob you of high quality thinking to solve life’s most complex problems.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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