Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking

by S.J. Scott

“To keep our ancestors alive, Mother Nature evolved a brain that routinely tricked them into making three mistakes: overestimating threats, underestimating opportunities, and underestimating resources

“Close relationships and social connections keep you happy and healthy. That is the bottom line. People who were more concerned with achievement or less concerned with connection were less happy. Basically, humans are wired for personal connections.”

have fallen into the trap of measuring myself against my peers,” says Barrie. “It undermines my focus on the work I’m doing, making me feel inept and envious until I regain my footing and realize I’m on my own journey, which should be different from those around me.”

Why are we filling our “to do” lists so we can hurry up and enjoy the leisure time that never seems to materialize?

As you’ve likely experienced, the getting started part is the most difficult. Once you start, momentum carries you forward, but if you keep procrastinating, you’ll never catch that wave of momentum.

presence is the state of mind you want to seek in everything you do.

You don’t have to hustle along with your eye on the outcome. Let walking be the destination.

You can be staring at a glorious star-filled sky or putting dishes in the dishwasher and be completely unconscious of the experience because of your cluttered mind.

Your job is to awaken, even if it’s for just a few moments every day, to truly experience your experiences—to be fully present and aware rather than tangled up in your thoughts and worries.

By applying mindfulness to all of the daily activities of life, from dishwashing to exercise, you clear your mind of all but the only true reality in life—the present moment. American psychologist Abraham Maslow says, “The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”