Who is directing the traffic in your mind?

A number of years ago I was standing on the edge of a very large roundabout in Lima Peru.  As I recall there were four major avenues entering into and exiting the roundabout with thousands of vehicles passing through daily.

There in the center directing this massive flow of traffic was a single policeman standing in a small metal cubicle.  He directed traffic by blowing his whistle and using his hands. The power of this one man to direct all of this traffic was amazing.

Imagine the courage that policeman must have had to just show up to face and direct the hectic, fast-paced, and sometimes dangerous traffic circling around him all day long.

Each morning we are like the policeman.  We wake up in the cubicle of our minds where we are responsible to be the director of thousands of our thoughts each day. How do you direct your thoughts or do they direct you!

You are not your thoughts  

You are the director of your thoughts

You can choose what you do with each thought that comes into your mind. Our thoughts are simply thoughts.  They only have power by how long they are in our mind and what we do with them. Self-esteem is a direct result of how we direct our thoughts!

Recently one of my clients told me that she frequently finds herself in the morning thinking over and over again about what she needed to do until a half hour had gone by and then she went into frantic mode, showing up late to work.  Then, her thoughts were like a car in the roundabout that just keeps going around and around only now the thoughts are shouting at her how incompetent she was and how she screwed up again! Her self-esteem took another hit.

I shared with my client a part of Og Mandino’s scroll #6 in his book “The World’s Greatest Salesman”. He wrote, “I want to, I get to, I choose to!  I command and I obey mine own command”

Og also stated that “Weak is he who lets his thoughts control his actions. Strong is he whose actions control his thoughts.”

The next morning she caught herself in the roundabout again.  Recognizing what was going on she took charge, directed her thoughts by making a simple decision, and taking action. She quickly accomplished what she needed to do and arrived at work feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment, increased self-esteem and confidence that followed her throughout the day!

Let’s put some identity to some of the thought processes you may have to direct today:

• Here comes the Camaro of comparison: “He is so much better than me at doing this project. What contribution could I possibly make?”

• A garbage truck loaded with thoughts that need to be right and  fighting against structure in your life that will help you slams into the back of your goal of getting the lead position on your team and totals it.

• Oh, here comes another one, while working on your project your thoughts are sitting in front of the TV watching the big game.

Take charge of your thoughts by recognizing they are there. Then, directing them either out of your mind if they are unproductive or into the creation of the next step needed for you to accomplish the work in the moment.  All accomplishment occurs in “the now”.