Did you know that an average human has 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts per day? That is close to 2,500 – 3,000 thoughts an hour.
Of these, 80% are negative thoughts. And to reveal the secret for you, that’s by design. 95% of these thoughts are also repetitive.
While the number of thoughts are overwhelming and I think we don’t have a control there, what’s important is what kind of thoughts these are? While some will be mundane and unnecessary, some of the 80% thoughts sure need to be channelized in the right direction.
I will share a few examples and you tell me some.
- When your mind tells you, you can’t – tell yourself you can.
- Those times when you feel lonely, think of that as a phase and speak to a loved one.
- When things don’t go well, tell yourself things will change.
- Think of every morning as a fresh start.
- Forgive, forget and move on.
- Let go of things that won’t matter 5 years from now.
- Who said what and why, don’t dig. Life is too short to waste time.
- Don’t be your own critic. Be your own mentor.
- Get up and get going.
Your turn, now. Tell me some of the usual things we think that we can change for good.
Linking up with MicroblogMondays #247 and #MondayMusings this week.
happiness and food 
Inspiring thoughts. staying motivated is necessary!
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It is! Thanks Arvind.
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I tell the students two important things to do, when they have a negative thought : first one is CHANGE the thoughts into positive as you rightly mentioned (they must flip that into positive one) secondly every day CHOOSE thoughts that are positive – meaning affirm yourself every day and state “I AM A DIVINE BEING” “I AM A POWERFUL SOUL” I AM AT PEACE, I AM CALM … create as many as you want depending on your situation and keep repeating to yourself, and refrain from criticizing self.
Some times these thoughts can become an obsession too – and its sad to see the way they struggle as they find it difficult to switch or choose too… what goes on in the mind is extremely important, for they determine our path…
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I like that advise. It is thoughtful and I like how you warned us too. Thank you Angela.
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That definitely was food for thought. I prefer to leave my mind blank for a few moments in the day…… That helps me from getting caught up in my own negative thoughts.
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That’s good. Good you are able to do that.
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I am guilty of constantly fretting too much about a past gone by as well stressing out about surgeries I have to be a part of even before they begin. Need to do better at this “negative to positive” conversion.
Godyears.net
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Trying is the first step. You should.
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Loved loved the post Parul. And loved your suggestions too. I have been trying hard, and succeeding to some extent too, in chasing away the negative thoughts. It’s important to remember that this has to be a conscious process.
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Thank you, Tulika. Yes that’s what I think that we need to make it a journey.
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Never gave it a thought! 🙂
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Now you can 🙂
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I too read yesterday that there are about 70,000 thoughts swimming in our head in one day! Good Lord, doesn’t our mind have anything better to do than think SO MUCH?!!
But, since some time now, I have been keeping a tab on the stuff that goes on in my mind and also replace it with positive stuff if my thoughts reek of negativity.
Loved the post, Parul!
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Good that you are keeping a tab. It makes a lot of difference to acknowledge and then act. Thank you, Shilpa!
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This was #MMM post – Motivational Monday Musings 🙂 It requires a lot of practice to catch yourself in the midst of negative thoughts and a lot more awareness to insert a positive thought in between but instant change of negative to positive, I doubt that happening.
Whenever I feel hopeless, I sit with that feeling for sometime, shed a tear or two and remind myself after this allowance to get up and get going.
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Thank you!
I can imagine that. I also give myself pep talks now and then. Mostly, I write and bring it all out.
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It’s so important to be aware of our thoughts, isn’t one? Most times we catastrophise, but things rarely turn out as bad as we fear. One thing I do, as soon as I notice myself conjuring up a doom and gloom scenario, is ask myself what’s the worst that can happen, and then what’s the best that can happen, and end up with saying I could live with either of those or anything in the middle! It helps.
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I love that tip. Thank you. This is going to help me.
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I guess that’s why the Buddhists use the term ‘monkey mind’ – it keeps jumping from one thing to another. Our thoughts are so important for our well-being. I love this quote attributed to Stephen Covey : Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
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Absolutely love that quote. So true and relevant. Thank you, Corinne.
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Ah our thoughts – don’t you just love them! It’s because of these I have a job but it’s also because of these, I’m messed up myself! 😛 Challenging some thoughts is helpful but so too is just accepting and noticing other thoughts without getting hooked on to them or believing them.
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I agree, Sanch! We can’t keep challenging all the time. I think it starts with awareness. Thank you for reading.
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Neem trees are so essentially India like this scene you’ve captured
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They are Sunita. I think you read the Tree Love post and commented on this one. But I love it. Goes to show you were here 🙂
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It is surprising how many thoughts we think each day. Thanks for those words of motivation. How I wish we could channel all of our thoughts to be positive.
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Thank you! Yes, that’s my wish for myself too.
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Oh my now thats a powerful post for today morning- thank you for such an inspiring and thought invoking piece Parul – I guess I have started to push myself out of bed every morning for a walk. When the mind says let me snooze a bit more, I say no we will come back and do that. Today Morning I actually started my day 30 mts earlier than usual as I didnt snooze the alarm 3 times like I do every day….
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That’s great Shalini! I do that too. I snooze a lot but I also make a point to get up and get going. I’m glad you could relate to the post.
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