Let a thought just be a thought
I was talking to my client, Tina Alencar. Tina is a University Student starting her own social enterprise, UnI Social Club. We were discussing how people (leaders too!) feel compelled to always take thoughts and act on them, build on them... to create opportunities or results.
Tina, who has been meditating a lot longer than me, hit the nail on the head. She said, "We need to learn to just let a thought be a thought; nothing more."
In Transcendental Meditation, we learn that when a thought enters during meditation that we should just accept that thought, not judge it, not build on it, and then effortlessly move back into the meditation. In other words, do not spend energy rejecting the thought, do not spend energy trying not to have the thought, but effortlessly accept it and move on.
Our busy lifestyle where our brain never rests results in us dealing with thoughts in one of two ways. Either we react emotionally to them or we take action. Meditation teaches us that there is a third alternative and that is to just accept a thought for what it is. Let it sit...no emotion, no action.
Of course this does not mean that we never act or react. It means that not every thought requires that and that when we allow ourselves to slow down and digest before jumping in with both feet, then we often gain a broader view.
It got me thinking about leadership. We are trained that success is defined by making quick decisions, using our gut and our experience to understand and then act. And yet we know that often, when we let an idea or a problem sit for a while, when we come back to it, that our thinking is clearer, that we bring a new perspective to it. It is a skill to be able to slow down and allow ourselves to process, to not jump in right away with both feet.
it is a skill to bring in that third approach - to understand we don't have to immediately act or react. We can let the thought just be a thought...and realize that when it comes back to us, when we come back to it, it will often deliver a better, well-rounded result
Tina, who has been meditating a lot longer than me, hit the nail on the head. She said, "We need to learn to just let a thought be a thought; nothing more."
In Transcendental Meditation, we learn that when a thought enters during meditation that we should just accept that thought, not judge it, not build on it, and then effortlessly move back into the meditation. In other words, do not spend energy rejecting the thought, do not spend energy trying not to have the thought, but effortlessly accept it and move on.
Our busy lifestyle where our brain never rests results in us dealing with thoughts in one of two ways. Either we react emotionally to them or we take action. Meditation teaches us that there is a third alternative and that is to just accept a thought for what it is. Let it sit...no emotion, no action.
Of course this does not mean that we never act or react. It means that not every thought requires that and that when we allow ourselves to slow down and digest before jumping in with both feet, then we often gain a broader view.
It got me thinking about leadership. We are trained that success is defined by making quick decisions, using our gut and our experience to understand and then act. And yet we know that often, when we let an idea or a problem sit for a while, when we come back to it, that our thinking is clearer, that we bring a new perspective to it. It is a skill to be able to slow down and allow ourselves to process, to not jump in right away with both feet.
it is a skill to bring in that third approach - to understand we don't have to immediately act or react. We can let the thought just be a thought...and realize that when it comes back to us, when we come back to it, it will often deliver a better, well-rounded result
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