“Think higher for yourself.” Have you ever heard that from someone?
There are so many times when I have encountered this phrase, not only when it is coming from someone else but also coming from me to me. Sometimes I will find myself thinking about plans that I may have, relationships and situations that I am in, and I sometimes become too critical of each of these. If you, like me, have the mind of an overthinker, then you know how the whole concept of being of critical is at the center of our lifestyles. We become self-critical and analytical about every single thing, and that can only go two ways; it’s either you find a solution, or you just keep going further down this overthinking spiral.
My encounters with the phrase “think higher for yourself” have either flown over my head and gone unnoticed or they stayed etched in my mind, and here’s my favorite one; one that I feel is obviously worth sharing. In one of the catch-up sessions I was having with one of my mentors, I was explaining to her how I felt the need to be moving at a faster pace in life than I already am, and how I was constantly in this space of thinking that I am not moving fast enough or I am not working hard enough. In essence, I felt like I needed to be moving faster to what I saw as the “ideal” place for me to be was.
All this pressure and stress had accumulated, and it was now working hand-in-hand with my overthinking, which led me to feel all these waves of dissatisfaction. She simply told me, “Think higher for yourself”. I was taken aback because in my mind, I thought I was thinking higher for myself because I felt the need to push harder and move faster. She then explained to me that I am thinking too logically and practically, which to be honest, confused and frustrated me little bit. I was confused as to how me wanting to move to my “ideal” stage of life was not thinking higher for myself, I thought this was a prime way of thinking higher for myself. She broke it down for me in two ways.
First, I had to stop thinking that thinking higher for myself was ticking things off of my “trajectory of life” list. Secondly, I had to step into the mentality of the now affecting the later, rather than pushing for the now to get to the later. First things first, I had to stop thinking about “thinking higher for myself” as a way to tick things off my “life” list. I was thinking and moving more towards how to get to where I need to be and how fast I was ticking off life’s boxes. I was not realizing that I had geared my mind into thinking that life is about ticking boxes, there is much more to it than that. I had to/have to keep reminding myself that thinking higher for myself is more about the internal growth than the number of boxes I tick. I needed to start moving towards a mindset that looked at the internal rewards and my trajectory of growth as a human, as Zuba, as the person I see myself growing into.
Secondly, I needed to focus more on what I am doing now and its impact, rather than looking at how I can make the present get me to the future faster. In essence, TRUSTING THE PROCESS. Both these concepts laced themselves together beautifully because they allowed me to see that I was hastening my growth process and occasionally blinding myself from seeing the bigger picture. So what’s my point with all this? Think higher for yourself.
Think higher for yourself when it comes to the things that matter, which is YOUR growth. Making it to where you need to be is one thing, but making it there and being the person you WANT to be is another. So you make the choice.
Love & Light,
Zuba
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