Living Life With Clarity
Do you ever find yourself with racing thoughts?
Confusing thoughts? Or conflicting ways of thinking? If you do, know you are not alone. Many people experience ways of thinking that are overwhelming to them. Living with these thoughts can be dysregulating, and leave us feeling as though we are in a mental fog. It can create insecurity in our trust in ourselves through being unsure of how we truly think and feel. Having clarity in your thinking can support you in working through your thoughts and understanding yourself.
What is Clarity?
Clarity in your thinking means you have a clear awareness of your thoughts. Having clarity in your thoughts allows you to have an understanding of your way of thinking. It means you are able to think clearly and come to decision-making in a way that is authentic to yourself.
What Does Clarity of Thinking Look Like?
Identifying your thoughts
Examining your way of thinking
Questioning your thoughts
Understanding your perception of the world
How Does Clarity of Thinking Impact Your Life?
Clarity in your thoughts can not only support you in understanding yourself but allow you to change your typical way of thinking and perceiving the world around you. It allows you to check your thinking for thoughts that are distorted, or an inaccurate picture of reality. With clarity, you can more easily navigate conversations, and decision-making, and navigate your world in a way that is more clear. This allows you to focus on what is important to you, and move in that desired direction; wherever it may be for you.
Benefits of having Clarity:
Able to communicate your thoughts more easily
Gain understanding and insight into yourself
Arrive at decisions in a way that is more clear and level-headed
Have a more realistic view of yourself and the world
A Skill to Try to Foster Clarity: Putting Your Thoughts on Trial
A basic strategy to combat harmful or unhelpful ways of thinking, and gain more clarity, is a CBT technique called putting your thoughts on trial. This technique allows you to hone in on a specific thought or way of thinking that is causing you distress, and check the reasoning behind that thought. This skill focuses on exploring the thought from different perspectives, both for and against the thought, based on fact and not feelings. It allows you to examine your way of thinking, to come to a final understanding that is more aligned with reality and balanced.
Try the skill, Putting Your Thoughts on Trial, by following the 5 simple steps below:
1. Identify the Thought
What is the thought causing you distress?
2. Defend that Thought
What evidence suggests this thought is true?
What facts are behind this evidence?
3. Prosecute that Thought
What evidence suggests this thought is false?
What facts are behind this evidence?
4. Deliberate that Thought
Weigh the evidence for and against the thought in question.
Set aside feelings, and focus on facts, for balanced judgment.
5. Come to a Verdict on the Thought
Looking at all the evidence, what do you think about the thought now?
What is a more balanced or realistic way of viewing this thought?
Think about your new way of thinking, and continue to practice!
If you find yourself relating to experiencing negative thoughts, wanting clarity, or interested in learning more about skills for challenging your thoughts, please contact us so we can schedule you for a consultation with one of our therapists!
