Thinking About It

“Thinking About It” is Another Way of Saying I Choose More of the Same

Last week after I spoke to a group of professional woman about three key elements to creating a new, more confident you, one member of the audience said to me, “I really loved your talk; you’ve given me a lot to go home and think about.” While I am grateful she really enjoyed my presentation, her comments spoke volumes to me about one of the biggest pitfalls you can make. One of the worst things you can do after you’ve been emotionally moved by something is to do absolutely nothing. I call it:

The peril of “thinking about it”.

Thinking about it is like a cow chewing her cud - a lot of chewing over and over and over. While it is true that time for reflection is necessary and wise to digest information you receive, reflection is 1) Not confined only to your head and 2) Not the same as ruminating over and over about something but doing nothing.

Walking away from an opportunity to make a difference in your life and others’ lives to retreat for the purpose of mental gymnastics is a disservice – to yourself and to the world at large. Why? Because it perpetuates a status quo. It leads to more of the same.

Have you ever left a training class or motivational talk only to be all charged up about what was shared, inspired to make a change and then poof nothing happens. You go back to your life, retreat into your mind, tell yourself some excuse as to why things can’t change, and then continue having the same experience you had before? And then you wonder why you aren’t seeing the results you desire, why you’re not experiencing what you want, and simply conclude that “that’s just the way things are.

Well, if you don’t DO differently how can anything ever be different?

Have you ever heard yourself saying, “Well I already know that.”? My question to you would be - -and how has this intellectual understanding translated into your experience? Oftentimes the answer I hear is – “Well I know what I need to do I just can’t figure out how to do it.” Have you ever felt that way? And then after a few trips around the track with this thought your frustration level rises and rises and rises because you feel like your life is just one big déjà vu?

This is because intellectual understanding of something is never enough. It is never the complete picture. There is a whole different level, a deeper understanding and knowing that is necessary to enact change. And you absolutely must do differently on the inside and out if you wish to experience a different result.

As Morpheus says in the movie The Matrix “There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

To move forward with anything in life – your personal growth, achieving goals, effecting change, you must create a clear channel for wisdom, get clear on where you most want to head, the experience you’d most like to have, and then you must start walking.

Action Step:
Today take a few moments to be truly honest with yourself. Consider one of your most important goals or a change you most want to make.

Then ask yourself “Am I just thinking about it? Where am I stuck? What would it take for me to access a deeper knowing about this and move into action?” Be fully honest and responsible with your answers and allow a clear next step to show itself to you.