Maisel wrote a brilliant book about how to quiet an overactive, hypercreative mind. He suggested that we create and use thought substitutes, which are pieces of language that help prevent our brain from conjuring up its usual distortions and distractions.
It’s a practice of thinking thoughts that serve us, rather than pushing on the pedal that’s driving our racing brain.
Personally, I find questions to be helpful. Especially when my hero complex strikes, and I feel this irresistible urge to save and fix and inspire everybody around me. And so, instead of deputizing myself as the world’s part time unpaid career counselor, I ask myself one simple question.
Is this really my business?
Because most of the time, the answer is no. Unless I’m hired as a consultant, or unless someone I care about truly needs my advisement, it’s not my job to be the lord of answers for everybody. It’s not my responsibility to change somebody’s life in five minutes or less. It’s not my mission to penetrate people’s defenses and take them where they don’t want to go.
That’s not really my business.
Using that thought substitute has been liberating for me. It’s one of the many tools I use to quiet my racing brain. To keep me from trying to change and save and fix everyone I encounter.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What do you say to yourself to quell your overacting mind?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a copy of the list called, “9 Things Every Writer Needs to Do Every Day,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter.
Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.
Now booking for 2016-2017.
Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!
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