Thought + Pause + Mindshift = Result
T + P + M = R
By Bill Marklein
sayhello@employhumanity.com
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could choose every thought? Like, never have a thought randomly pop into our heads unannounced or uncontrolled. As emotional beings, much of the “choose your thought” psychology is utopian and inauthentic at best. We call bullsh*t. That’s not how our emotional brains work. There’s too much noise, change and speed in the world to meticulously craft every thought. With our thoughts, we can instantaneously become triggered, annoyed and irrational. The best way forward is to get off the unsustainable and exhausting mental treadmill of choosing every thought and to get into the mental hot tub of monitoring and observing every thought. Now, this is doable!
Thoughts can be random, surprising and fleeting. Mindfulness is watching our thoughts and not attaching to them instantly with action or emotion. A simple, “oh, that’s a funny thought” is mindfulness in action. Here is the Employ Humanity equation to improved emotional intelligence and more positive, healthy results: T + P + M = R.
Thought + Pause + Mindshift = Result
Thought
Choose not to control your thoughts but to watch them in real-time. This watching or monitoring your thoughts is self-awareness in action. It’s unrealistic to control every thought, but we can always choose what to do with them once they enter our mental space. Decide today that you will simply try to observe your thoughts first without trying to first curate every thought.
Pause
Pausing is the mental buffer that allows clarity, facts and logic to enter the mental space. Without pause, we react instead of responding and do and say things we regret. Words and actions can become impulsive and unprofessional. When you watch your thoughts, be sure to pause for 5-10 seconds to decide if you want to give the thought validation—or credibility. The pause puts you in great position for mindshift.
Mindshift
With mindshift, we are now in the driver’s seat. We are the pilot, the architect and hold the pen to craft our response. We have the energy to mindshift because we are not fatigued at this point from “controlling all our thoughts.” Remember, it’s not how the brain works to control every thought we can only control our response to our thoughts. Mindshift is choosing how we want to respond to the thought. Shifting is the key. For example, the thought “Ugh, I have to mow the lawn today” shifting to the new thought “I get to have some fresh air on this beautiful day.” This is positive psychology not choosing our thoughts but shifting our thoughts and most of the time pausing and discarding thoughts that do not benefit our attitude, relationships, goals and values. Thoughts can be completely irrational and false narratives. For example, the thought “she is going to try to make me look like a fool” shifting to the new thought “where is there any factual evidence that this is true.” Thoughts can be a mean inner-critic. For example, the thought “you made some big mistakes” shifting to the new thought “those mistakes are great lessons learned to be better next time.” The mindshift is endless and can become a remarkable, life-changing habit. Mindshift gives us true control of the outcome.
Result
The result is the outcomes from our pausing and mindshift—not our original thoughts. Results are a great benchmark for how we are doing with pausing and mindshift. Every human being has negative, irrational thoughts and self-talk. That’s the authentic truth. We can’t control every thought, but we can always choose our response to our thoughts that will lead to high emotional intelligence and improved quality of life for ourselves and those around us.
About the Author: Bill Marklein is a sought-after keynote speaker in the space of leadership, culture and emotional intelligence and invites you to Employ Humanity Leadership Day 2025 in Green Bay at historic Lambeau Field. If you liked this article, please give it a share.
