The Beginning of the End

If you knew you could see the end before the beginning, wouldn’t you be willing to change to rework the ending? Lucky for us, our mental health, much like our physical health, is cyclical in nature. Our thoughts spiral into the same traps every day if we let them.

One of the top pieces of advice I give the most often on mental health is to kill assumptions at all costs.

Since our minds get trapped in cycles, rhythms, and routines, we should steer clear of any negative thought patterns. Although most people wouldn’t equate assumptions with being all that bad, for those that struggle to stay mentally healthy, not many things could be more dangerous.

When we assume the narrative, the situation, and the conflict (or lack thereof), we introduce unnecessary stress into our minds and bloodstream. That leads to a spiral of potential lies that we believe (more on this in a later post) and, thus, less mentally healthy.

A great practice to counteract the regularity of these assumption spirals is to keep an assumption journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy. A field notes guide works great here. Stick it in your pocket with a pen, and be ready to pull it out and write down every assumption you have throughout the day.

Once you have several days penned down, you can begin to review them each morning and observe them for the weight they deserve. News flash: until you prove these assumptions to be true they are of no worth to you.

Seek out the truth of the situation straight from the source and kill every assumption. If you don’t, it will be the beginning of the end for your mental health.