How Good Are You at Using This Valuable Tool?

Is a hammer good or bad? You might say it's neither; it's just a tool that can help us do things. Or you might say it depends on how you use it—are you building something or vandalizing something?​

What about our thoughts? Are they good or bad? It seems that the answer could be similar to the one above. Sometimes our thoughts serve us, and sometimes they work against us.​

What if we viewed thoughts as a tool? Now we can ask questions like, "How adept am I at using this tool? How can I use it better? Can I use this tool to build a more enjoyable, easier life?"​

But maybe you're thinking, "How do I 'use' my thoughts? It seems like they just happen!"​

Ah, yes... They will just happen—unless we make a point of paying attention to them. Then we can choose how to use them.​

Imagine you get a flat tire. The thought that just happens (our reaction) might be, "Just my luck! This always happens to me. My whole day is ruined."​

But what if you noticed and decided to use your thoughts as a tool? You might shift to something like, "Well, that's inconvenient, but at least I have a spare and know how to change it. I'll be a bit late, but it's manageable."​

It's the same situation, but using your thoughts allows you to influence your experience and minimize your stress. The circumstances may be the facts, but the experience is based on our feelings. Thoughts are the tool that can influence those feelings and, therefore, our experience.​

The skill of pausing, noticing, and choosing our thoughts is something we can practice and improve. And life will give us so many opportunities to practice! Be on the lookout this week and give it a try!

To browse past positivity tips, visit this page.

Tina Hallis, Ph.D., is a professional speaker and founder of The Positive Edge, a company dedicated to helping individuals and organizations increase their positivity and well-being to improve the quality of people’s lives and the quality of company cultures.