196. your thoughts

Your thoughts belong to you, or you belong to your thoughts.

You either move forward with a clear intention on what needs to be done by focusing on the task at hand, or you’re so lost in the outcomes of “what If,” that those thoughts start to take center stage.

When you belong to your thoughts, you’re no longer acting from a place of creative intention, you’re acting out of a response to something that hasn’t happened yet. Thinking, “what if they don’t like me?” or “what if the work I produce isn’t good enough?” or “what if I fail?”, all steal your focus from where it needs to be. Yes, to a certain point the outcome matters because we all want to do good work, but if your focus is solely on the outcome rather than the process, both will suffer.