GO Month: Mental Clutter - W

Let's celebrate Get Organized (GO) Month by ridding ourselves of mental clutter from A to Z!

To celebrate Get Organized (GO) Month I'm doing a series of posts on the mental clutter that can be just as pervasive as physical clutter. For each letter, I'll talk about a mental stumbling block that often impacts our well-being.

Let's focus on W ... Wishful Thinking

Wishful thinking is simply what we wish to be true rather than reality. When you want a certain belief to be true, you end up believing it so because of this motivation to think wishfully.

What wishful thinking does is muddies our judgment and gives us a twisted view of the facts. Some people think the more they manifest something the likely it will actually happen. If I desire an organized life I'll read organizing books, tape organized photos to my walls, devote Pinterest boards to organizing hacks and in no time my home and life will be tidy. It's tempting to want to believe that this could be the case. It is not.

Wishful thinking is usually an offshoot of fear. People don't rely on this type of thinking or manifesting because it works, more so because it allows them to avoid confronting what's holding them back (ie; discomfort, change, stress, any type of negative outcome). People become fearful they won't succeed so fall back on wishful thinking instead of actually doing the work.

Ways to combat wishful thinking:

• Recognize that this type of thinking hijacks reason and has no factual backing or substance

• People who rely on wishful thinking tend to be more vulnerable to disappointment and pain

• Go where the evidence takes you until convinced otherwise; discipline yourself to only accept conclusions based on real-world backing

• Be mindful that we all fall into the wishful thinking trap sometimes - even Einstein at one time refused to accept the reality of black holes in space

• Acknowledge that some types of wishful thinking can be helpful and pleasurable - wishing for a beach getaway during a snowstorm or thinking lustful thoughts about a fling with George Clooney

"Turn wishful thinking into positive action. Those who take a proactive stance in their lives tend to have an ample supply of joy and pleasure."

Cheryl Saban

Here's to freeing ourselves from the mental clutter of wishful thinking!

Please share with someone who needs a clearer mindset.

featured image by Free-Photos from Pixabay