Hey everyone
I am writing this to share my experience of thinking and emotions
A bit about me
So I am about to turn 32 years old and I have realised that I am getting more insecure about my future. I am a pharmacist and earning sufficient to afford bills and some holidays – atleast one of them being high end (not too expensive though!!). My wife is a dentist, however, she only qualified recently and is looking to find full time job.
My thought process
What is the first though that comes in your mind when you wake up in the morning? As soon as I wake up, I spend around 15-20 minutes doing exercise and then think of my routine ahead. So I dont really think a lot about anything in the morning,however, I have realised as soon as I sit in the train or bus, I suddenly start thinking about my future. This includes my dream holidays, my pension, my kids and ultimate financial freedom. I cannot put a stop to my thinking. Its like a train of thoughts coming one after another and my thoughts are so confusing that sometimes it does not make sense at all. At any given time, I will think about investing into stocks and shares and how will I generate income in my later life and next second I will think of completely different investment strategy such as property investment. In terms of my career, I would do the same thing – I will think of progressing within my career but then I will think of changing my sector. This has been happening to me lately and the reason I can think of is impatientence, not having enough self confidence, anxiety and pressure to do well so that I can achieve all the comfort and luxury that others have achieved
How can I come out of this vicious cycle of thoughts
I have decided to write my thoughts on a piece of paper – yes literally writing it down as soon as it comes. I will then stop thinking for about 10-15 minutes and I try really hard not to think of anything in this time. I will then look into what I just wrote down and will identify my pattern of thinking. I have done it for 3 months now and I realised that I think of same thing repeatedly but in different ways. For example, in terms of investing – I will think of buying some stocks and shares and after an hour I will think of the same thing without realising that I already had this thought. By quickly jotiing it down, I can catch the thought and discard it. I have managed to control this by meditation where I can control my thought process and have just learned to live in the present
What I am doing to further improve my thought process
I am reading books on how thoughts and emotions are interlinked. As soon as you think about sad things such as previous failures, setbacks and how you did everything to prevent it but you couldn’t – you will be into different state of mind (low mood) and hence it will affect it emotionally. I am also trying to increase the amount the amount of time I meditate which is a challenge for me at this moment in time but I will push my limits.
Thank you for reading and Please share your experiences
Many thanks
Anand
Mental health 