How Thinking Impacts Our Motivation

Happy New Decade Everyone!

As human beings, our birthright is freedom. We are born with, and always have with us, the ability to create the reality we desire (even when it's not obvious how). This freedom is innate and cannot be taken away.

When our thinking contradicts or ignores this innate freedom, our unconscious sends as an alert signal in the hopes of getting us to see that we are missing a critical piece of the puzzle. The alert signal is not in the form of cautioning words or a blaring alarm. It comes in the form of unpleasant emotions, like feeling out of control, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, and even depressed.

When we WANT to do something of our own free will, it's easy to do it without any resistance. But when we feel obligated to do that very same thing, we fight against it and resist it. The only difference between these two scenarios is your thinking. And the surest way to feel obligated to do something is to use thinking that convinces you that only by doing it will you be happy, and that if you don't do it your life is incomplete and missing something.

In this sense, the first step to STOP feeling obligated to doing something you actually WANT to do is to realize that your emotions are your thinking. Feeling happy and fulfilled and confident is not dependent on what you accomplish on the real world. It is dependent on how you are using your thinking. Realizing this, you can slow down the thoughts that make you feel like your freedom is threatened and step into the perspective freedom and well-being that is your birthright. FROM THERE set up the intentions of what reality you want to create.

Say these out loud or in your head: "I HAVE to stick to my New Year's resolutions because if I don't I'll be a failure." vs. "I WANT to stick to my New Year's resolutions because it would be really cool if I did." Can you feel the difference in energy?

The first is a sense of foreboding, of limitation, of having to meet someone's expectations. Like a wave on the ocean's horizon on its way to come crashing down you.

The other is a sense of excitement and possibility - the knowledge that you are setting an intention, making it a reality on your terms, and excited to reap the benefits of it. A wave that you are excited for because you're going to surf it - it's going to be fun, and you're going to be a better surfer because of it!

What's the difference between the two types of energy? It's just what words you use - your thinking. Nothing more.

"That’s the basic rebellion of a free human being. Thinking you are obligated or thinking you have to will have you resist it and fight against it. But thinking it would be cool, and thinking it would be fun and thinking you would love it—now you are talking. Now you’re really moving."

- from Time Warrior by Steve Chandler