Let’s stop obsessing over trivial and insignificant things

The thing is, the concept of “important / not important” varies for each individual. Before learning to “not obsess,” we need to determine what is important to us. To understand this, it is enough to answer the following questions:

• Is there any benefit from constantly thinking and talking about what I do?
• Do my thoughts and words hinder myself and those around me?
• Do my thoughts and words negatively affect my mood and the mood of those around me?
• How often do I think and talk about the same things?
• Do certain thoughts and words distract from genuinely important matters?
• What circumstances trigger these recurring thoughts?
• How do thoughts manifest on a global scale?
• What useful outcomes will these thoughts bring today, tomorrow, in a year, and in ten years?

In this way, you can learn to classify thoughts and categorize them into different “shelves” – priority or non-priority. What is unhelpful, unimportant, or negative will become evident, and there will be a desire to let go of it. For added convenience, you can even write down such thoughts (those that affect your mood, those that repeat constantly, those that distract, and so on).

Even if you accidentally stain your clothes with food or scratch your car, or if some other minor inconvenience occurs, you will immediately realize that it is clearly not a global-scale problem. There is no reason to dwell on it, and you should keep moving forward. Countless people in the world face the same things. Do you want to surpass many of them?

Since we are all human and not made of iron, sometimes we need to let off steam, express ourselves. It’s normal, but moderation is key. Constant negativity without bounds only pushes people away.

However, there are intrusive thoughts that are difficult to simply dismiss. These can be thoughts related to a tragic event, a stressful situation, or something insignificant but highly persistent.

There are simple ways to combat intrusive thoughts. One of the primary and effective methods is to distract oneself with work or other activities. For example, tidying up at home, immersing oneself in work tasks, watching a movie, engaging in physical exercise, listening to music, and so on.

Moreover, a stream of intrusive thoughts may indicate a need for change. For instance, ceasing communication with someone, changing jobs, fulfilling a promise, and so forth. Essentially, our subconscious tells us that something is amiss and needs to be altered. Alternatively, it may involve accepting the current reality when there is no possibility to change the situation.

Important! If intrusive thoughts lead to a desire to engage in harmful actions or harm oneself or others, immediate assistance from a medical specialist is necessary.