Every January brings a new year full of possibilities, new adventures, and new goals. It’s a time of new beginnings and intentions we set for the year. While it brings much newness with it, it still carries the same old noise in our everyday lives. Clearing out the noise is crucial for focus and clarity while moving our lives forward but how do we do it? Continue reading to clear out the noise in your life.
Notifications, alerts, and alarms, oh my!
It’s no surprise we’re surrounded by noise everywhere we turn. We have deadlines, meetings, trips, gatherings, and more. In fact, we have the whole entire world right at our fingertips with our phones. While mobile devices can be a great tool for managing our lives, they can also create a lot of noise in them.Ā
For instance, we have social media, email, texts, and more at any given moment. Take a moment and think about how many times you pick up your phone per day. On top of that, how many times do you open the same apps on autopilot without even realizing it?Ā
Our phones are incubators for creating noise and can be the front door to endless distractions in life. Social media alone is so easy to get caught up in. According to TechJury, the average user spentĀ two and a half hours every single day on social media in 2022. Does that feel like a lot to you? While it may seem like a lot, every one of those moments adds up.
If you’re curious to know how much noise exists solely from spending time on your phone, log your screen time and review it every week. You can also track how many times you pick up your phone each day and add it up at the end of the week. I bet the number will surprise you.
Understanding our thoughts to clear out the noise for growth
Our phones are just one example of things that create noise in our life. But the noise leads to thoughts and thoughts lead to judgment. I don’t mean this in a harsh way, I mean this by simply stating that it’s human nature to judge everything. As we take in new inputs, we’re constantly trying to understand if something is good or bad.
In my recent post, I talk about how the brain processes an average of 70,000 thoughts per day. That may feel like more than you believe is true but it’s happening conciously and subconsciously. With that many thoughts, we’re judging a lot. We do this first and foremost to understand if something is a potential threat to us, it’s what keeps us safe.
But the brain doesn’t know the difference between concious and subconcious thoughts. This is why taking a moment to pause and understand our thoughts is critical. When a thought related to noise pops into your head, instead of just allowing it to come in, I want you to take a moment and evaluate it. Keep reading for an example.
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Take social media as an example for clearing out the noise
Let’s say you are scrolling through your feed and you see someone that has what you want. This could be a job, a house, a car, etc. At first, you may experience thoughts of envy or low self worth. You may feel like because the other person has the thing you want, there’s no space for you to have it too, or you’ll never get to a place where you can earn it.
While it’s completely normal to have these types of thoughts, it’s detrimental to our growth. If we don’t take the time to stop and reframe our thoughts, we’re feeding our concious and subconcious with lies that hold us back. Instead of telling yourself you’ll never achieve something because someone else already has or there’s no more room for you to do it, tell yourself there’s room for everyone at the table and the possibilities are endless. Because they are!
Do you think they only make one car, one house, or one job or business? No! Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty is worth and estimatedĀ 2.8 billion and she is far from the first to create a line of beauty products but look at her go!
Doing the work to clear out the noise
Doing the work to clear out the noise comes in a lot of shapes, forms, and sizes. You can start small by developing little habits and build over time. Your brain won’t necessarily adjust overnight so there’s no need to overwhelm yourself and feel like you need a bunch of change at once.Ā Gradual practice over time will provide the best results for clearing out the noise.Ā
Here are some helpful tips for clearing out the noise:
- Dedicating time each day for meditation or quiet reflection
- Journaling your thoughts to get them out of your head and onto paper
- Reading in your favorite place
- Turning social media notifications off and only checking them when you’re in the app
- Time block checking your email
- Spending time in nature
- Moving your body for 30 minutes per day (or as much as you can throughout the week)
Summary – Clearing Out the Noise for Growth to Take Place
Remember, clearing out the noise is a practice that takes time. The noise that surrounds us today didn’t happen overnight so, it won’t go away overnight. Give yourself grace and take small steps each day. You’ve got this! I believe in you.
If you found this post helpful,Ā please let me know!
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