3 H’s of Healthy Thinking

​Let me share with you a simple, but effective, filter to evaluate if you want to keep or discard a thought. 

1. Is it Healthy ?
2. Is it Helpful to me?
3. Is it conducive to my Happiness ?

 
If you respond  No  to all 3 questions, I encourage you to rid yourself of its negative energy. You do not have to adopt it as your own just because it is in your mind. To gain control over an intrusive thought, try the following 3 things:

1. Acknowledge what the thought is. Avoiding its presence only empowers it. If I tell NOT to think of purple elephants, what will you likely think of for the entire rest of the day?
2. Shake it off. No, really. Engaging in a visceral shake of the body or head while imagining the thought spilling out of your ears makes the task a bit more concrete and increases efficacy of the attempted expulsion.
3. Intentionally redirect to something that DOES have a constructive quality to it. If you have nothing in mind, look around at the environment around you and get creative. Curiosity about the world has infinite possibilities of thought.