Sometimes our minds are like Shopping Trolleys. They go the right way, the wrong way and it takes a bit of effort to keep it on the right track!
Unless I read it somewhere and can’t remember, I would like to take credit for coining the ‘Wonky Shopping Trolley’ analogy for our minds and constant thoughts.
What made me consider this was my own development in my own business and now seeing many people who were mentally in the position like I used to be. That is, controlled by fear, confused, lacking direction, knowing that their life isn’t the way it should be BUT not sure of what to do next to get things right and working the way I want.
In light of going through this process myself, one thing I noticed that is a big part of it are our ‘Daily Thoughts’ on a regular basis. Sometimes we can be ‘In the Zone’ feel great and succeeding on Auto-Pilot. This is a great thing and I am very blessed to feel like this at least 80% of the time (it used to be 5% so I am happy with that one!).
However, talking to the negative (which inspired me to write this article) when we don’t feel like it and are ‘Out of the Zone’ this is where I find the Women are separated from the Girls and the Men are separated from the Boys. It’s when you really have to dig deep and focus your thoughts with often conscious effort.
I am recovering from being ill right now. Nothing severe of course, just too many hours, working too hard without enough a breaks. I won’t be doing this forever of course, however in life and business it happens at times – you got some peak projects you got to work through.
As my health temporarily took a dip and my cold got the better of me, the first thing to go out of the window after my physical strength was my thoughts. That is, I would find myself just thinking about really lame stuff such as:
– Anxiety.
– Unlikely situations that may happen.
– What people think of me.
– Asking dumb questions like “What if I fail?”
– And really silly stuff like that.
I don’t often do that and I found while my health is recovering, it’s very easy to dwell on the negative and I have been consciously guiding my thoughts as much as I can. Sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle with my “Enemy Within” but after working through it I feel much better.
Bringing it to back to my own “Shopping Trolley” analogy, I find at times when you say go shopping you get a great trolley. There is nothing stuck in the wheels, it takes little effort to push it along and it aims in the direction you like. Sometimes you get that annoying trolley which has part of a tomato stuck in it’s wheel, it veers off to the left and you have to put your body weight behind it so it moves. You can push it straight, but it takes extra effort to get it done.
I find sometimes with the reality of life, we just wake up or something happens that throws out our “Shopping Trolley”. It’s these moments where we have to better push our trolley in the direction we want and it takes a bit of effort. BUT, every time we push the wonky shopping trolley more we get more skilled at it which makes next time that bit easier.
I hope you find this concept useful! It’s the only one that seemed to work with me, being a man who was single and has shopped on his own for years (that loves visiting the supermarket).
Happy days Awesome Friends and Happy Thoughts from Edward Zia! Small Business Marketing Mentor who loves shopping!
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