I´m glad that I have finally decided to write this article. The headline was showing up in my mind constantly during the recent days. However, I did not immediately commence writing. Why not?
I don´t know. I guess one reason might be that currently I have deviated a little bit from my approach of writing articles when compared to when I started this blog. In short, the first articles were created like the following: A thought, sometimes similar to the headline, popped up in my mind. Then I started to conclude the thought with further sentences. When I was in possession of around five further sentences I recognized that probably it´s worth to write down these ones. I was thinking: If I´m able to create five sentences immediately which are in a logical sequence of each other underpinning my initial thought then I should trust that I will be able to create a whole article based on my initial thought. So there´s no need to get afraid of a white page or what people call a blank page syndrome.
For usual, this has worked fine. Hence I have written several articles based on this approach.
“Raising” my demands
But then, unconsciously, I switched my approach. Rather to write down my thoughts directly at the moment when they arose, I tried to conclude the story respectively the article in my mind. This approach is based on my willingness to write better articles. In this context I thought it will be better if I first think about the initial thought thoroughly before writing it down to not miss any important aspect later in the article.
But I finally realized that it does not work that way. In this context the headline („Thinking does not make happy“) shall emphasize that I do not consider it as pleasant to simply think through the story in my mind rather than writing it down. Of course, in a certain way it is pleasant. Otherwise I would not do so. Indeed, by following the approach of thinking rather than producing something (e. g. writing a new article) I obtain a good feeling as usually I think the following: This article based on this initial thought will be a good one. But only once you have thought about every aspect in a detailed way. You should only write it down once you have captured everything in your mind. Do not miss any important detail.
To sum it up, in terms of running this blog this approach is totally crap. That´s driven by the fact as by following that approach I simply do not write the article. I solely think about it.
Thinking or producing?
But it does not matter what I think if I do not write it down. If I do not write it down, no one will recognize my thoughts. So why shall I waste my time with thinking these thoughts? Accordingly, I should really attempt to get back to my initial approach. This means, when I recognize an interesting thought and I´m immediately starting to conclude it with further sentences, I should simply commence writing these down immediately. So the headline „Thinking does not make happy“ primarily refers to the fact that there´s more happiness obtained out of producing something rather than simply thinking about something. As I mentioned in here in several articles by running this blog it´s my intention to be valuable. However if I simply think about an article rather than writing it down, that´s not valuable.
As a conclusion going forward it´s my intention to reduce thinking and increase producing. In this context I recognized that I need to be careful with what I call thinking. As mentioned above, I created these articles by a simple initial thought. Can I really consider this kind of thought something like a quality thought? Or am I just a medium which received a crap thought and who then decides to create something with quality and valuation out of that?
I´m dropping this question as once a German philosopher was confronted with the statement that thinking is tiring. He then mentioned that by simply thinking about the thoughts which are arising in someones mind without a clear direction or better say a solution-oriented approach, he agreed that this can be tiring. However, following a thought with the aim to create something out of it, to find a solution or to analyze a problem within a thorough way, in no way he will consider this approach as tiring.
Questioning myself
I´m glad about the fact that this conclusion has gathered my attention. Because it underpins my willingness to not waste time with thoughts which simply appear in my mind without any relation to an important topic or something which I consider to be worth to follow. The point is: Too often I still give too much attention to these kind of thoughts. To point it out directly, I´m very distractable. In every thought arising I see an opportunity of reflecting and comparing my behavior e. g. Am I still on the right track? That´s why too often I give too much attention for even the smallest thoughts in my mind from which I know that in no way they will be beneficial in pursuing my creative work or in becoming a better human.
Accordingly, to overcome this behavior I should implement an approach which I heard about several years ago. Until now I never followed it. The approach is very simple: The time for reflecting shall be reduced to a time frame of two hours per week. Every thought which pops up within these two hours should be followed with full attention and dedication. If it pops up then, it can be considered as important. So during these two hours that´s the time to give attention to the important thoughts including thinking about the next steps. In contrast, everything which does not show up within these two hours can be considered as unimportant respectively forgettable.
Limit the time of reflection
I guess by following that approach I´m offered the opportunity to maintain the producing mode without constantly questioning: Am I on the right track? I can simply check my track by giving attention to my thoughts during these two hours per week. But going forward I should stop reflecting my behavior and questioning myself at any given opportunity during the week.
I´m pretty sure that sticking to that approach will be very challenging. If it was easy, I would have already implemented it. But on the other hand following that approach sounds truly beneficial. Likely that I will get rid of my inefficient way of thinking. I trust in that I will obtain more time to create something.
To improve my further behavior the best thing will be to create a protocol out of the two hours session of reflection. These protocols should contain my goals which have arisen during the session as well as the steps which I have implemented in order to achieve them. When I have then completed the follow-up session, I can simply compare these protocols to align on my priorities. If the protocols are the same, then I have a pretty good indicator that I´m on the right track. If there are significant differences, I assume that it´s worth to think about implementing changes.
I have mentioned that implementing that approach will be challenging. That´s also driven by the fact that for a creative person any thought can act as a new inspiration. That´s why I´m afraid of not following the thought and not giving attention to it. But due to the fact that in a constant way I give every kind of distraction my full attention I´m getting lost in a huge amount of unnecessary details. I´m like a leaf in the wind being blown around by environments mood. Because I dedicate so much attention to the environments mood. Maybe the environment is sending me the next inspiration right now? Maybe right now it´s sending me the next essential step which will increase my efficiency as well as my effectiveness and productivity? How can I allow myself not getting distracted by this magical mood?
Holy words
The headline states: Thinking does not make happy. But I guess the key phrase of this article is: Thinking rather than producing is not valuable. Going forward I have to focus on being valuable. I cannot allow myself anymore to think unnecessary thoughts without a solution-oriented approach, without a clear goal in my mind or without taking valuation out of it. Going forward it will become essential to stop thinking just for the joy. Because it´s a fake joy. It creates a world which does not exist. My fantasy is only present within my mind. The reality is and will always be different.
As a conclusion there´s simply no need to give such a close attention to my own fantasy in an unstructured way. Too often I´m a dreamer who is avoiding the hard task. I´m talking of the task which will create real value. Getting lost in my fantasy is not beneficial. It´s a fake value. No one will give me credits for my fantasy if it only exists in my mind by not deriving real value out of it. At least in theory I have finally acknowledged this for myself now.
All of these thoughts are real. It´s time to put them into reality.
Any thoughts on this can be sent privately to send@realthoughts.me or publicly via the comment function below
Martin