- The Introverted Path
- Posts
- being alone with your thoughts
Welcome to The Introverted Path!
Happy Thursday! It’s been a nice, shortened week for me since I had Presidents’ Day off work on Monday.
This week, I’m writing about being comfortable with your thoughts.
In a world that is continuing to become more loud, connected, and busy…it is important to feel content alone.
And for introverts, we know we prefer to spend time in solitude. But that doesn’t mean we are always comfortable with our thoughts.
In today’s email:
Why is it hard to be comfortable in stillness?
Why does this matter?
Links to other content I enjoyed this week
Let’s dive in 🤙
Silence is not golden for most people
Just how bad do people want to avoid sitting in silence?
A study from 2014 found that some people would rather give themselves electric shocks than spend a handful of minutes alone with their thoughts.
And yes, I realize how outrageous that sentence was.
But the takeaway shouldn’t be focused on the electric shocks themselves.
It’s that people would rather do anything as long as it wasn’t nothing.
We live in a world filled with instant dopamine hits.
You can listen to a podcast while you cook, watch YouTube videos while you eat, and scroll TikTok before you go to bed.
And as we fill less and less space with alone time, it becomes harder to feel comfortable in silence.
Why does this matter?
So here’s the thing…when we are constantly bombarding our brains with stimulation we don’t allow any space to think.
This is especially important in today’s social media driven world.
We are continually reading thoughts or opinions of other people. Most of these people have very specific agendas.
But do we stop to give ourselves 10 minutes to see what we truly think about a topic?
Or when you have a tough problem at work - do you give yourself the proper space to think through what potential solutions can be?
I am super guilty of all the things I have wrote above.
I go for walks and listen to podcasts and tell myself I am being “productive”.
You know what is even better than a morning walk while listening to a podcast?
A morning walk where you actually take in your surroundings and sit with your thoughts.
My thoughts 💭
Without distractions, we can allow our mind to do a number of positive things.
Work through problems, set goals, reflect on memories, examine relationships, get excited for future plans, etc.
We have to give ourselves space to do those things, though.
I know I’m not alone in constantly grabbing for my phone in moments of boredom.
By catching ourselves when we aimlessly fill space, we can instead give ourselves some time to breathe.
My recommendation: Put together a list of things you want to explore. By having a plan going into alone time, you keep your mind from wandering aimlessly.
I’m going to go for my morning walk tomorrow and leave the cell phone at home 😃
Links that I enjoyed this week 💥
Best,
BG