You Are What You Think About!

This article was written by guest contributor Carolyn D. Townes.

"If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pass our doors, we are at least responsible for those we admit and entertain." ~ Charles B. Newcomb

Experts say that we operate on about 90 percent of the negative thoughts we learned as children. What this says is that there are a lot of negative people and negative energy circling our immediate environment.

It is this negative energy that then gets spread to all the other parts of our lives. So, if we have a negative workmate. We then absorb her negative energy and pass this on to our family life. This then gets passed on to our leisure time. And the cycle continues until every part of our reality and our connecting realities are infused with this negative energy.

So how do we break the cycle? Think about what you think about!

Instead of entertaining every toxic thought that comes into your head, make the conscious choice to flip the script.

We have been given a powerful tool that may elude many of us. It is the power of choice. We have the awesome power to choose – to choose to entertain negative thoughts; to choose to not drink the poison; to choose to not give our quality time to toxic people. Here are three powerful tips to change your thinking and to avoid those toxic people:

1. When a negative thought does enter your mind (and they will!), choose to change it. Just say CANCEL! Then just for the moment think about something funny.
2. When you cannot remove all of the toxic people from your life – some may be family or workmates, then find some nutritious people to balance the scale. Find a life coach or a support group, or both. Spend less time with the toxic people until you have enough resolve to deflect their negativity.
3. Develop and attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful, there is no room for negativity. When those pesky negative thoughts start to creep in, think of five things you are grateful for at that moment. Remember, you always have something to be thankful for. You don't think so? You're breathing, aren't you?

So just for today, learn to think about what you are thinking about. You have the power to choose more "nutritious" and empowering thoughts – thoughts that will lead you to creating a life of inner peace, passion and purpose!

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Carolyn D. Townes is a Spiritual Life and Leadership Coach, Passion and Purpose Coach, speaker and author. For the last fifteen years, she has been telling her story to impact and empower women worldwide. She is the creator and animator of Spirit Women Coaching and Consulting which is dedicated to equipping and empowering female leaders, entrepreneurs and women in transition in creating a life of passion and peace. She writes for the blogs Becoming a Woman of Purpose (http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/) and Equip and Empower (http://equipandempower.blogspot.com/). Carolyn lives in New York City and can be reached at carolynsfo@spirit-women.org.

Causes of Procrastination #2 - Overwhelm

This is part 2 in a 4-part series on discovering why we procrastinate. To read part 1 about how perfectionism hampers us click here.

When we think about all the things we have to do on top of the things we dream about doing it can be a bit daunting. You go to work for 8-12 hours everyday, you need to make sure your kids get home safe from baseball practice, and you need to get your breaks on your car fixed. Oh, and you have to eat, too! For many of us these are just the basics of everyday life. These activities alone are enough for anyone to handle. If you're an ambitious person, or someone who just wants to change your life, you probably have goals on top of your daily responsibilities.

It's no wonder why you would brainstorm a project, draw out an outline with deadlines, get advice from people you respect, and then do...nothing. You've got way too much going on already!

The feeling of being overwhelmed can quickly lead a person to procrastinating because they don’t know what to do next. They don’t know what the most effective action to take is because there are seems to be so many things that need to be done. This can happen quickly without warning.

The person who suffers from being overwhelmed will typically be the kind of person that likes to help others, they’ll take on so much responsibility that they will suddenly freeze with inactiveness. Once the feelings of being overwhelmed take hold it is sometimes very difficult for this person to make even the simplest decisions.

This is the point where some experts might say that you need to manage your time more effectively in order to do more things. This isn't totally wrong. But, I think the most important thing to do is find balance so that you can have peace. When you're at peace your mind is clearer and there's less weight on your shoulders.

Overwhelm has definite emotional overtones which may include stress, confusion, fear, and anxiety. There are also physical signs: tightness in your chest, a knot in your stomach, and becoming short-tempered. None of those states are ideal for overcoming procrastination. Many times we are reluctant to acknowledge to ourselves or admit to others that we are feeling overwhelmed because we view it as a sign of weakness.

If you stay too long in a state of overwhelm you will eventually progress to burnout. If you learn how to recognize overwhelm, avoid it, or recover from it quickly you will not only feel better, you will likely also be more productive!