“Rule your mind or it will rule you.” – Horace (Roman Poet, 65-8 BC)
Conscious thinking is thinking that is purposeful, positive, and directed by you. These thoughts are your intentions, desires, goals, and ambitions. Conscious thinking is powerful because, if your thoughts are backed by belief, you will create it in your reality. In order to create anything on the outside, you need to first create it within starting with the energy of a conscious thought.
How often in your day are you consciously thinking? How often do you stop to clearly decide what it is you want to experience in your life? For most of my life, I never understood the power of my thoughts. Often, I would run on auto-pilot with my mind racing on what I needed to do or worry about next. From the moment I woke up, I would check my phone and read e-mails. Full of anxious energy, I would rush into my work day without slowing down and stopping to think about what it is I wanted to create or experience. As a result, I found myself reacting to whatever came at me during the day. This led to increased levels of frustration. As a corporate executive and a parent, this was definitely not the most efficient and effective way to get things done or create positive outcomes at work and at home.
Learning the skill of conscious thinking was life-changing. By going within, I learned how to minimize stress and struggle, and maximize positive impact. Life seemed to get easier. By consciously deciding what it is I want, and believing it is possible, I realized I could create it. To fully understand this at a deeper level, you need to understand that thoughts are energy and have a vibration. The energy you emit is the energy you attract. Therefore, conscious thinking is the skill of directing your energy to what you desire, so you can create it in your reality.
Below are three things you can do immediately to develop the skill of conscious thinking.
- Decide what it is you want
Take the time to decide what it is you really want. What do you want to experience and accomplish in your work life and personal life? Make a list. Next to each item, ask yourself if you truly believe this is possible for you. Your conscious thoughts have the power to create only if you believe it is possible for you. The good news is that any belief can be changed.
- Create Intentions
Practice creating an intention for your day. When you wake up in the morning, before you start looking at your phone and getting into all the tasks and routines, create an intention for what you want to happen in your day. First, sit up comfortably. Close your eyes. Quiet your mind by taking 3 deep breathes. Consciously decide what you want to happen in your day. Keep it in the realm of your beliefs. You cannot create it unless you believe it is possible. Then, let it go and move into your day. You can do this practice for any segment of your day (before a meeting, before seeing friends, before going home to family, etc.). Experience for yourself the power of conscious thinking in your everyday life. - Develop a Mindfulness Practice
Make mindfulness (awareness and conscious thinking) a practice. I highly recommend daily meditation. You can start at as little as 5-10min a day. This is a powerful practice as it helps you build your mental muscle. You become more self-aware and operate more with conscious intent. This is important when using conscious thinking for bigger and longer-term goals. There are many meditation apps available to support you in this practice (I have used Insight Timer and Calm). You can also search on YouTube for meditation music and guided meditations.
Conscious thinking is a discipline and practice, and the more you practice the greater the overall benefits to your life. For me, some of the benefits included being more productive at work, enjoying Mondays as much as Fridays, creating a strong and engaged team, more easily solving problems, maintaining a work/life balance, and so on. This is the power of conscious thought.
Conscious thinking is simple in concept but depending on what you want to create in your life, it can be more complex in practice. The greater the amount of skill you develop through practice and knowledge, the easier it becomes to achieve your true desires.