There is a present reality that we all face on a daily basis:

Nothing around us ever stays the same.

The world continues to change at an ever-increasing speed, and the physical limitations of time and space really only exist now in our minds and that is only if we allow them. I needn’t tell you now how easy it is to jump on a plane and be across the other side of the world in a day. Or the fact that within seconds via our “smart” phones we can access endless amount of information ranging from where the best restaurant is in our neighbourhood to go for dinner, or what is happening with the state of the economy in Alaska.

And yet with all this advancement in technology, and the revolution of the “Information Age”, we still haven’t quite figured out how to deal with ourselves. Our own limitations. Our own frustrations. Our procrastination. Our intolerance. Our prejudices. Seriously, are we still having the conversation about women’s equal rights in the workplace, or the fact that someone who dresses differently to us must be the enemy? In today’s world?

But we struggle. We do. I do. Daily.

What is it?

Old thinking. Automated thinking. Conditioning of our minds. I am sorry to say this but it appears that we have all be conditioned to think the way we do to some extent. And the only way to change is to recognise thinking patterns and challenge them. Grow beyond your current understanding of the “way things are”. Refuse to accept that what is, is how it has to be.

Daniel Kahneman goes quite in-depth into this subject in his book “Thinking Fast and Slow”. It is slightly heavy reading, but certainly a “mind-opener”. I recommend it.

So how then shall we live?

1. Recognise current thought patterns – when you suddenly have a slump in your gut (a.k.a. a “disheartened feeling”) recognise that it is probably because something, someone or an old thought pattern has just put a chain around your dreams. I find that the truth liberates not destroys. Have a look at why you suddenly feel so glum and deal with the source of the slump.
2. Commit yourself to constantly challenging your current patterns of thought and habits. The best way to do this is to put yourself in uncomfortable situations and then ask yourself why you feel so uncomfortable. Surround yourself on a regular basis with people who think, look and act differently to you. You don’t necessarily have to become like them, or take on their habits and behaviours, but I guarantee it will sharpen the way you look at the world around you. This is one reason I love travelling so much. When you immerse yourself in a completely different culture you suddenly realise that the way you live is not necessarily the way the rest of the world lives, and yet they still survive, and mostly have happy fulfilling lives.
3. Limit your exposure to people who consistently try to put their mindsets on you. Unfortunately sometimes this can be the people who are closest to you. It is usually well-meaning advice, but the hardest to separate yourself from. Just because they love you does not mean that they always know what is best for you. Stay true to your own vision. Accept advice graciously. Move beyond the mindsets.
4. Accept that it takes time for your thinking to evolve and that you are not wrong for your current patterns of thought. This for me is probably the hardest to accept. I am by nature quite impatient, especially with myself. However I understand that everything is a process and that the wisest person on earth was not born with that wisdom. Ignorance is the greatest enemy to growth. Don’t be ignorant of your current behaviours. But wrong thinking is merely untrained, and unconditioned thinking.
5. Ask yourself – is the current methods, processes and resolutions the best, or is it just the way my mind has naturally gravitated towards as the easiest solution for the present situation?
6. Beware the pendulum. I do not believe that we should throw all traditions and methods of operations out just because they are “old schools of thought”. Look for the value in every process. Sometimes the union between old and new can be more powerful than a singular, isolated vision.

“Why be concerned with gossip? Because it is much easier, as well as far more enjoyable, to identify and label the mistakes of others than to recognise our own. Questioning what we believe and want is difficult at the best of times, and especially difficult when we most need to do it…” – Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow.

A little side thought: What are you carrying around in your soul that simmers away there while you go about your daily mundane routines that bore you close to death? When you allow yourself a quiet moment, and you close you eyes and take a deep breath, what is that down there deep inside that seems so far beyond you and yet makes your heart near leap out of your mouth? Where do the clamps that hold your dreams deep below the surface advance from?