I suspect that Descartes got it wrong. He said ‘I think therefore I am’. It should be ‘I am and thinking is one of the things I can do….or not’. We probably can’t stop thinking but we can decide on which thoughts to entertain or focus on. Sometimes these thoughts morph into feelings and action. If you have unhelpful thoughts like ‘I can’t speaking in public’ ,the old way was to dispute this thought or distract yourself when the thought entered your mind. Didn’t work did it? The thought just kept coming back. An alternative strategy is to live with the thought. Make room for it. It will leave eventually and be replaced by other thoughts.Identifying it as merely a thought will reduce its impact on your performance. Try saying to yourself ‘There’s that thought again’ or I notice that the thought ‘I can’t speak in public’ has come back. Try it. Put your full attention into everything you do.
Paddy Spruce | Confident Public Speaking
Confident Public Speaking
Footer
Latest Blog Posts
Christmas Present
Give yourself the present as a Present this Christmas Day. James Joyce wrote “Mr Duffy lived quiet close to his body” meaning that he spent more time in his mind than he did in his body. He was often not present and missed out on enjoying himself in the present. My suggestion is that on […]
Fear Filter
Fear is good. It warns us of danger. It can also hold us back from exploring anything new and limiting the access to our potential. We can become over sensitive to fear and risk and only do what we consider to be safe. Our potential is left unexplored and we only get joy from watching […]
