If your GPS kept rerouting you into dead ends, you’d ditch it.
Yet most of us follow something far more unreliable every day: our own thoughts.
Example 1: The Instant Judgment
A coworker interrupts you. Your mind flares up: “How rude. They don’t respect me!”
But pause—was that true? Or just an automatic script playing in your head?
Notice this: your body tensed before the thought formed.
The mind just rushed in to justify the feeling—like a GPS recalculating after it’s already off course.
Example 2: The “Someday” Fantasy
You tell yourself: “I’ll be happy when…” (you get the promotion, the partner, the perfect body).
But think back. How long did the last “achievement high” really last?
The mind simply moved the finish line again. It’s not a plan—it’s a treadmill.
What’s really going on?
Your mind runs on old maps:
Childhood rules (“Don’t fail.”)
Cultural myths (“Success = status.”)
Primitive alarms (“This email = threat.”)
Try This Instead:
1. When stress hits, ask: “Is this thought helping—or just haunting me?”
2. Ask yourself: “Would I take advice from a stranger who talks to me like this?”
The Freeing Shift:
Thoughts are like weather—passing clouds.
You’re not the storm. But often, you’re the one standing in the rain, holding an umbrella, blaming the sky.
