You definately don’t want to keep thoughts in your mind. You are tired and somehow want to say goodbye to all negative thoughts in your mind. ( see I knew it 😀 ). Here we are going over some science-backed ways to Clear your mind from Unwanted Thoughts. Stay with me.
Table of Contents
Young People Overthink Too Much?
It has been reported that,
- 73% of aged 25-35 think too much.
- While 52% of aged 45-55 do overthink.
- And just 20% of 65-75 overthink.
This means young people are more busy doing overthinking. That’s sad, These young people are expected to enjoy their life, and have fun.
But Alas! in today’s world young generation is more depressed than the old.
Can You Clear Your Mind From Unwanted Thoughts?
In one word, No we can not control our mind from thinking.
Further explanation,
Many people believe that we can’t control our mind, including some scientists, their researches suggest that we don’t control our thoughts, it’s happening itself.
That’s true, we can’t control what’s going into our brain, but we can replace it with positive thoughts, That’s the only way to feel better.
The common misconceptions people have,
- I can control my mind from unwanted thoughts.
- I will never think of negative events.
Well, When you don’t get things happening the way you wanted, You will feel unhappy, You will feel like everything is against you.
So expecting that you can control all your thoughts is not going to benefit you.
That’s not going to happen at least in this life, Because on average we think 6000 thoughts. That’s a lot you can’t control all these thoughts, you need to welcome some of them.
Related:6 ways to Stay in present Moment
So what to do then With Thoughts?
If you can’t control your thoughts, then how will you be more productive, happy, and living a fulfilling life?
I know thoughts are disturbing, and you want to clear your mind from unwanted thoughts, But you don’t need full control over your thoughts to live a better life.
The strategies which I am gonna show you will teach you two things.
- Replace your thoughts.
- Be aware of your thoughts.
Why Replace Your Thoughts?
One thing is to confirm, you can’t control all your thoughts, but you can replace them with a new one.
If you try to block your thoughts,(I am not going to think about my breakup…) you are actually thinking about your breakup, So you are doing nothing but causing yourself more panic.
Instead, if you just try to change the direction of your thoughts, from…
I am not going to think of my breakup, to…
I will live a happy life, I don’t need a partner to be happy with. With this strategy you have almost won battle of thoughts, You are set to live a happy and fulfilling life.
This way you are shifting your focus to something positive, at least you will see less negativity in your thoughts.
Be Aware Of Thoughts
Most of the time, When we are thinking about any event, we go so much deep into it, that it seems like it’s happening right now.
The reason is we are not aware of our thoughts, we keep on thinking, and when we realize it’s imaginary thinking, the time is already gone, and this thought has captured our mind.
So if you are aware of your thoughts, if you can catch the upcoming thought and don’t allow it to sit on your mind, you will be able to control your mind from unwanted thoughts.
That’s called mindfulness, you got to be aware of what’s going on…
Why Are You Stuck In Your Mind?
Joe Dispenza an expert in memory science talks about controlling the mind.
He explained it this way,
this has become your habit, you are now controlled by your mind, your mind is master of you. You are always thinking about the past, you live in memories, you can’t focus on the present moment.
The problem is you have created a habit, that you need to remove, See building a habit takes time so does removing it. You have spent quite a good amount of time creating this toxic habit.
Now when you want to quit it, You will have to make some efforts, but don’t be sad, at least it’s possible and you can do it.
Let’s see how memories are created.
The Memories
First, you get an experience in life, Let’s say, for example, someone insulted you or cheated you or you dropped out of college.
This is how the event becomes a memory,
- You recall what had happened.
- You do it over and over.
- This repetition makes it a memory, That never goes out of your mind.
The Effects Of Memories
This memory that you have in your mind, has control over you.
They contain some sort of emotions, When you recall this memory, you will feel the way you felt at that time. For example, if that moment was joyful, You will feel happy recalling it,
But if that memory was negative, Either you embarrassed yourself or something else, You will feel sad recalling that moment.
The shocking news is, the stronger that memory is the more you will feel it, It will make you feel as if it’s happening right now.
So if there was a crucial event, For example, a breakup, you are not gonna forget it easily, It’s so strong that it has captured your mind, You will have to keep it fighting until it goes away.
Why It’s Hard Remove Thoughts
The default mode
There is something called the default mode of the brain…
- When your mind drives you,
- When you don’t think about things consciously,
- Everything happens, you are not doing it.
This is the default mode of the brain, and We feel comfortable only in this mode, I mean we like to not disturb our mind by changing the direction of it.
When you want to step outside of this mode, You know what happens? We are not going to feel it easy, Your brain will consistently try to get you back to the previous mode. ( default mode)
Breaking The Default mode
You are going to deal with something bigger now, You are going against the habit of your brain. So you gotta do some work too.
This is how your brain works now,
- You have a thought.
- It produces emotions
- You feel something( good bad whatever)
- You repeat it again and again
Secondly, Your mind does not like change, it’s scared of the unknown.
Because when you are trying to change, You enter into a new state of mind, This new state of the brain is quite confusing to the mind itself.
It’s Automatic Life
Think of it this way, You are living a life on automatic( like a driverless car),
- You don’t need to pull the gear,
- no need to press the breaks,
- no need to turn the steering.
You just sit in the car and it drives you. Now you want to take the driver seat and turn the automatic mode off.
So definitely you need to look at everything, You will have to engage your mind or else you will trash the car in no time.
Your mind is lazy
When your mind was in a default state, You were not required to do anything consciously, Everything was happening itself.
But now when you want to shift your mind to the positive side, you actually want to think consciously, it’s no more a default mode, Now you are the driver of your mind, The autopilot is off.
This state will cause you to stress Because the mind is required to put effort to make some changes. Remember your mind does not like change.
What Happens Next Is Up to You
It’s up to you now, Surely you won’t feel good at the moment, When you decide to change, but for the sake of the long run you will have to change yourself.
Change is never easy, Becuase the brain will have to create new pathways to adopt the change, During which you will feel some stress.
But the good news is your brain can do anything, When you decide to change your brain already accept it, and tires to make a new way of thinking.
Doing this a few times will lead you to positive habits, And that is how you will be able to change.
If you want to clear your mind from unwanted thoughts, You will have to do some practice. That I have mentioned below.
And I hope by now you understand why Those unwanted thoughts are attacking you, Let’s give them a surprise…
How To Clear Your Mind From Unwanted Thoughts
Five ways you can clear your mind from unwanted thoughts.
- Mediate
- Become Positive Thinker
- Use stop words
- Make your life challenging
- Change Your environment
Got stuck in your mind…
Take a deep breath and relax…
Here I am going to show you the exact ways on how to clear your mind from unwanted thoughts.
1) Meditate
When it comes to controlling the mind, I see no better option than meditating. I myself do meditation when there is a thought stuck in my mind.
Here is what Joe Dispenza says,
When you are meditating, you are telling your mind to be right there. You are commanding your own mind to stay in current moment, and don’t go here and there.
When you are working with the default mode of the brain, you don’t have control over it, and neither you can control what you feel.
Because what you think is going to shape your life, and these thinking are going to define your life, how you feel? how do you act? all these things are related to your thoughts, the more you can control your thoughts, the better life you have.
How Does Meditation Work?
- Take a deep breath,
- close your eye,
- focus on your breath,
that’s mediation, Simple is that don’t make it complicated, You don’t need to out of the home sit in a desert and be like a monk.
SO…
When you are focusing on the breath, You are commanding your brain to pay attention to the current moment. which will help you to overcome some of the negative thoughts.
Remember you can’t fully control your mind, You will have to deal with some of the intrusive thoughts, that you can’t get out of your mind.
And it’s completely okay Because it’s natural these thoughts won’t disturb you.
But the real problem is When you can’t sleep because of intrusive thoughts, When you can’t pay attention to your job, that’s when you need to care about yourself.
That’s the time you need to meditate, which will give you some relief and with practice, you will be able to control a big portion of your thoughts.
2) Become A Positive Thinker
The first part was to overcome negative thoughts, you have done it to some extent, good job.
But one thing you need to keep in mind, That your brain is never empty of thoughts, There is something in the brain going on 24/7.
When negative thoughts are gone, It’s time to bring in positive ones, You wanna replace that empty space with beautiful thoughts.
Try Affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements, that you repeat to yourself, for example,
- I am worthy of a good life.
- I love myself.
- My life is amazing, I am so happy. ( woohoo)
Here you are just shifting the direction of your mind to a positive side, the result is you focus less on the negatives.
For example, If your self-esteem is low, it’s because you have some negative experiences, So you keep on thinking about those experiences, and you will feel like you really are not worthy of anything.
It’s because of repetition, it is saved in your subconscious mind, And the same way lots of other negative thoughts are stored in your subconscious mind.
How Do Affirmations Work?
I am worthy, I am worthy, I am rich… Are you really worthy of something?
When you tell your mind, That you are worthy, Your mind will not accept it at first, And probably you won’t notice any significant results.
But when you ask it consistently, I am worthy, Your mind becomes curious, It wants to know why are you worthy? That’s how it’s going to find all those reasons that make you worthy.
This way you are digging into the positive side of your life, and you can clear your mind from unwanted thoughts.
Read also: what are affirmations, do they work?
3) Stop!
It’s the end of the unwanted thoughts in your mind, Just stop it!
Give yourself a specific amount of time, And when the time passes,
- Say loudly stop,
- I am done,
- or finish.
This way you are conditioning your mind, you are setting a limit to these thoughts. The problem is you are thinking freely, you have given permission to your mind, to think however it wants to think.
But when you set a limit, and immediately say stop after the dedicated time, The thinking pattern is changed.
You brought a barrier into your thoughts, The current pattern is broken! And there is room for new thoughts to come in.
By saying stop loudly, you can control your mind from unwanted thoughts.
4) Make your life challenging
Most of the time, your life is affected by other people. Their attitude, The way they treat you is what defines your life. Your environment controls you, you don’t have control over it.
If you are living an ordinary life, with an ordinary mindset, then you value people more than everything. ( your future, goals, vision, Dreams)
Whatever they say or do, is what defines your mood, your mental health.
How It Affects Your Life?
Look dear, When you know there is nothing good waiting for you ahead, You don’t have a good reason to be happy.
You know That nothing is gonna change, The way I live now, And the way I will be living 10 years after will be the same.
But if you are working on something challenging, Then you have a little hope, Which tells you things are going to change.
This is how you give yourself and your future more value, Your times become important, You don’t give it freely to everyone.
Read also: How to focus on yourself not others
How It Affects Your Mind?
The more you value something, The more you will think about it, Which produces emotions, And your emotions are going to define, What you will do and what you will feel.
If you want to stop your mind from unwanted thoughts, You should divert your attention to what is important.
This way the thoughts which will enter your mind, will be ideas, That can change your life. You won’t have to deal much with the thoughts, that talk about people, situations, and things.
What You Can Do?
You need a great vision, A goal that satisfies all your feelings, that fascinates, Excites you.
When you create a goal that is really important, Then achieving this goal becomes your priority. You are not longer thinking about past memories, it’s only the future that defines your thoughts.
Maybe you don’t have good experiences in life, Maybe people don’t like you. But if you are working on something big, you have hope, A hope that makes you happy. You know everything will change.
these feelings help you to not overcomplicate things. And give you better control of the mind.
5) Change Environment
Which thoughts are disturbing you? Are you consistently comparing yourself to others? Is it because you are missing someone? Or do you remind yourself of a bad incident?
It could be because of your environment, Either of a person or place. When you see it, you call memory in your mind, and the feelings are stronger.
There Is Always A Special Place
There is a place when I visit, It reminds me of my childhood, Which brings a gentle smile to my mouth and I become happy.
But on the flip side, there are some places, If I visit them, It makes me sick, I don’t feel good.
So what it all means? This tells us we have memories associated with certain places.
When we visit that place, we recall the memories associated with that place and we will feel good or bad depending on memory.
What It Has To Do With Negative Thoughts
If you go to places that remind you of negative experiences, It will give you stress.
For example, If visit a place where you saw a murder with your own eyes, You will feel worst, That incident will invoke the same emotions which had felt at that time.
This will make you keep thinking about it, Your mind will start to wonder, what had happened? how bad it was?
And that is why you will feel stressed, you won’t be able to control your thoughts.
So the bottom line is that Some people and places will remind of extreme worst experiences, And the cure is to avoid them.
Key points
If you want to clear your mind from unwanted thoughts, you will have to be patient.
Of course, there are some practices, that you can apply, but still, it takes time to learn something.
Here are the key points
- You can’t fully control your mind
- It’s ok if you have intrusive thoughts ( not too much)
- Focus on positive things
- Be aware of what you are thinking
- Do meditation
- Change Environment
Final Words
Negative thoughts are one of the worst things to have, It feels so bad, You can’t enjoy any moment of your life when you are stuck with these thoughts.
The night becomes scarier, When roll to left and right and don’t see any hope of falling asleep.
Sometimes it reaches to a level that you have to say,
I need a break from my own thoughts.
So what you have to do is, Never let yourself reach that level. Keep working on your mind, don’t let it be distracted.
Do these exercises to stay mentally fit and healthy, Never ever allow something to cover your mind so badly that you don’t forget it.
So that’s it for this time, Hope you got some motivation from this post.
Tell us what you think in your mind That’s not letting you have a good sleep.