When Thoughts Become Things
I am constantly thinking about the perspective shifts I have gone through in the past several years. Especially from way back when I decided to begin a Coaching practice, even with a steady and reliable career as a teacher, and a place to tap into my passion of helping others. When I think about it now, I have no idea what made me think I could pull it off.
I was just learning how to be a single, working mother of two young boys, yet something deep inside kept calling me to the table as a Coach. It called loudly enough that I attended a night class for 6 months in order to get my Coaching Certification.
There was this voice that said, ‘I know you are pretty close to where you should be when you are in the classroom...but somehow I don’t think the audience is big enough.” I couldn’t shake it. It would appear all day and all night at random times. It was often enough, that I just accepted it as the truth.
If you just focus on that part right there, you might think, okay, so if you think about something long enough, it can become something. Right? I mean, I had been thinking about the idea of becoming a life coach for a year before I took any action on it. Yet, come on, we all know that thoughts do not just become things simply because of relentless thinking. It just doesn’t work like that. It might be a lot easier if it did, but I’ve never seen that work.
The thinking part is a good start. But it’s just the start.
So then how do I claim that thoughts can become things? Well, what I know is that they can become things, but not as a stand alone activity. We don’t just stand around in our thoughts all day...and then whallah, things appear!
I knew that then and that’s why I didn’t just think about it. I researched the idea of being a Coach, what they get paid, what kinds of hours they worked, what was needed to get started, what kind of investment I needed to put into it and even how it could fit into the life I already had. But it didn’t end there. If it had ended there I might still be where many people still are. Stuck.
Endless possible scenarios floated in and out of my head every day, each idea, leading to more answers. Each answer, leading me to even more questions. As a matter of fact, I felt like the more answers I found, the more questions I had. At some point you wonder if all that thinking is even helpful!
And yet, thoughts can become things.
For me, all these ideas, answers and even more questions, were rounded out by a lot of talking. Not just talking in general, since as you can tell, I am quite good at that, but talking to anyone and everyone about the idea of becoming a Professional Coach.
And that, was the piece that mattered most in my decision making process, and what I have seen mattered most with so many others trying to create change. It was the talking about it.
Thoughts do become things, when you can start talking about. As much as possible in fact.
If you really want to turn your ideas into things, you have to start talking about it. You have to try it on. You have to hear your own voice sell it to others, even if it means disputing the very same things you are actually worried about.
You know...like...am I smart enough? Can I afford it? Do I have the tenacity to run a business by myself? Do I understand all the pieces involved? Will other people use my services? Will people think I’m crazy for even trying this?
Until you can dispute all that negative self talk out loud, it is hard to make any movement at all. Instead it just seems to circle around and around. And the more it circles around, the harder it is to make a decision. It then becomes what we call analysis paralysis. Basically...stuck in thinking mode.
Here’s a great quote: “The mind is a dark and dangerous place...don’t go there alone.”
It is so true. It’s why professionals hire advisors. It’s why athletes hire trainers. It’s why even the most brilliant CEO’s have a support system. We all need a space to actually hear our thoughts and hear what others hear while we share...it is then that we can turn our thoughts into things.
Are you actually ready to do that? If you are, pick up the phone, meet someone for coffee or find a group that suits you best...but whatever you do next, get those ideas out into the open so they can begin to transform from thoughts to things.
You got this.
And remember: if you change one thing, it can change everything.