Have you ever had the experience of coming to the end of a long productive day, looking back over what you have done and feeling completely dissatisfied with what you managed to accomplish? You know you can do better, and you should do better. Friends and family tell you that they could never hope to do as much as you, but you feel like you could do more.

When it comes down to it, the vast majority of the choices that we make throughout our lives are in reality inconsequential. The real issue arises when we give too much weight to the perceived consequences and therefore fail to take action, or procrastinate, wasting precious time in the process.

Anxiety causes the importance of each decision to be dramatically overstated.

In most cases making a quick decisive decision is far more productive than extensive contemplation. Regardless if you are suffering from the symptoms of anxiety, or are dealing with the mental ramifications of the many choices and actions necessary to follow your dreams, you need to ‘Stop Thinking and Start Doing.

I lose every day. Each time I step onto the mat at the start of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training session, I know that I will soon be ‘tapping out’. Giving the signal that I have been defeated, and effectively admitting to myself, to my opponent, and to everyone watching, that I was bested. ‘You win or you learn’ is an aphorism that we learn to live by, and in most sessions, I lose more than I win. Yet I return, day after day, and plan to continue to do so for the rest of my life. By the end of this chapter I hope to convince you of the reasons why…

There is a real risk that we will come across a line of reasoning or a thought process that makes us question our own existence, makes us doubt the point of living, or otherwise traps us into a downward spiral of mental affliction as we ruminate over the consequences of our newfound knowledge – a ‘Philosophical Trap’.

“As you live by your values, your sense of identity, integrity, control and inner-directedness will infuse you with both exhilaration and peace. You will define yourself from within, rather than by other people’s opinions or by comparison to others.” – Stephen Covey

Think of the last time that you accomplished a goal. How long did your happiness last for? How long did it take before you came down from the high, and began focusing on the next challenge? I’m going to guess that it wasn’t long.

It is time to take stock of what screen time is actually costing you, not just in terms of time, but also sanity.

Advertisements work. Social conditioning (judging yourself against your perceptions of others) impacts your mental health. The 24/7 news cycle is depressing.

Imagine if somebody came up behind you and dumped a bucket of iced water onto your head. No warning. One second you are warm and dry and the next you are freezing and wet.

What are the chances that you would still be thinking the same thoughts?