6 ways of thinking that can limit your mind

There are psychological habits that reduce our creativity and clarity of thought.

If there is one thing that characterizes the human mind, it is its ability to adapt to its environment. Contrary to what happens with most other animal species, our behavior is much more marked by the way we decide to learn to act than by the actions genetically encoded in our DNA. That is: human beings are characterized by their creativity, the freedom with which they choose to take totally original routes of thought.

However, in our day-to-day lives, this creative potential is not always this creative potential is not always being exploited to its full potential.. There are many psychological factors that limit it and that, if we are able to neutralize them, will leave behind all that breadth of thought and mental flexibility that our brain entails and that, in some cases, we did not know we had.

That is why it is practical to review our psychological habits and identify those ways of thinking that limit our imagination. those ways of thinking that limit our imagination and reduce its scope. and reduce its scope.

Psychological habits that limit our thinking.

The first thing to keep in mind when it comes to understanding why there are some ways of thinking that limit the possible mental routes among the ones we choose is that the human brain, despite having an incredible amount of neurons (more than 80 billion of them in an adult) has limited resources to perform its actions.

And yes, thinking is also one of those psychological functions carried out by the brain, since it does not exist outside our body. We are not talking here about using 100% of our brain (something we already do all the time, despite the 10% of the mind myth), but about managing well the Biological resources of our nervous system that are already being used.

Thus, we must choose the mental habits that best allow us to exploit the limited amount of resources of our brain when it comes to to orient it towards the broadest, most flexible and creative thinking possible.. And, to do so, we must first identify those thought patterns that limit this flexibility. The main ones are the following.

1. Procrastination

The term procrastination tends to be familiar to very few people, but almost everyone knows its other name: the "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome.. It is a way of thinking that leads to constantly looking for excuses to postpone challenges.. However, the striking thing about procrastination is that it does not only appear when we have to face complex problems; it can also slow us down when we have to perform simple tasks, such as doing the laundry or coming up with creative solutions to a situation to be solved.

This is what makes the "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome so limiting to our thinking; every time we reach a point where some mental flexibility is required of us, the anticipation of this small effort can cause us to postpone this task, allowing us to remain in that easy state where our thinking goes on the rails of habit. And of course, procrastinating creative thinking greatly increases the chances that we will end up not facing that little challenge.

2. Rumination

Rumination is a pattern of thought that consists of entering into a loop of obsessive ideas from which it is difficult to exit. from which it is difficult for us to get out. For example, if we are very embarrassed by something we have done recently, no matter what we do, every thought may end up leading to the memory of us making a fool of ourselves in front of others, which leads us to continue to dwell on the incident and, as a result, further predisposes us to recall the experience in the future.

Rumination works in a relatively simple way: the more we think about an idea, image or memory, the more likely it is that, automatically and unintentionally, that mental content will come back to haunt our consciousness. This not only leads to increased anxiety, but also limits creativity, as it binds us to the anguish and anticipated fear of "reawakening" that memory.

3. Excessive perfectionism

Many times perfectionism, far from being something that pushes us to constantly improve, prevents us from taking the first steps necessary to progress. If before starting a project in which you will be required to think outside the box and a good dose of creativity, you realize that you spend a lot of time worrying about the blow to your self-esteem that failure could mean, it is possible that this psychological habit is acting as an anchor..

4. Analysis paralysis

Analysis paralysis is a mental block that keeps us stuck in the decision-making phase.. What characterizes this pattern of thinking is that it is often not perceived as a problem, since the time spent in choosing the best of the possible options is not seen as a standstill, but as a necessity to ensure success by choosing what suits us best.

In other words, analysis paralysis is a kind of perfectionism fixed in the choice phase. We give up choosing one of the options offered to us because, somehow, we are afraid of the possibility of failure; that is why we prefer to stay in a previous phase in which we can fantasize about success.

5. Blaming others

Blaming others and the environment for everything bad that happens to us is a sure way to stay where we are.. Of course, it is not unreasonable that a good part of our problems are the fault of others, but if we focus all our attention only on the responsibilities of others we will lose sight of the range of options from which we can choose.

6. Constant search for new stimuli

The fact of not knowing everything about what the future holds or what we must do to reach our goals makes many people give in time and again to distractions, in the hope of coming into contact with valuable ideas or elements of inspiration. In other words, there are no references or where to start learning or training.