Its time to stop extrapolating all of your perceptions

Its time to stop extrapolating all of your perceptionsIts time to stop extrapolating all of your perceptionsI bet that youre extrapolating your perceptions all the time. Let me give you a few examples and tell whether Im wrong.House prices will probably keep increasing.That person will never change.My business will keep growing.I will never learn from my mistakes.He doesnt like me.We often have these type of thoughts multiple times a day. The root of this problem is our quick judgment.Humans are very fast thinkers. But how fast do we even think?Scientists have quantified the speed of light and sound, but when it comes to thoughts, its notlage that easily measured.Researchers that did experiments with measuring the speed of thought, found the following Thoughts can be generated and acted upon within 150 milliseconds.If thats really true, were faster than the load time of Google. The median load time for Google.com on mobile is currently 600 ms.Were fast thinkersBut that doesnt mean we should follow through on every single thought that pops into our mind.Have you ever tried measuring how many random thoughts that pop up in your mind? Just do a simple experiment. For the rest of the day, be aware of your thoughts.Dont follow through. Every time you start thinking about future events or start making mental movies, keep count on a post-it note or small piece of paper.I did it one day at the office. It looked like this23 random thoughts that came out of nowhere. And I wouldnt be surprised if I have 2300 more thoughts in my subconscious.But heres the trick Dont follow through on those thoughts. Because if you do, your mind will turn into total chaos.Instead of making all kinds of mental movies, always stick to first impressions. Never make assumptions. Only look at impressions and dont think about what everything means.Thats a simple stoic exercise that I picked up from Meditations by Marcus AureliusStick with first impressions. Dont extrapolate. And nothing can happe n to you.Thats how you always stay calm. But sticking with first impressions is very difficult because were all impatient. Were so eager that we immediately make judgments after our first impressions. Can you believe that?She didnt respond to my text. She doesnt like me anymore.Lets say you make a quick judgment like that - or something similar. Admit it, we all do it But lets look at what that means.So someone doesnt respond to you right away. Okay. Thats the whole impression - nothing more, nothing less.You see? The first impression is that you didnt get a reply. Its not this Why didnt I hear anything back? She probably doesnt care about me. Other things are more important to her.Two hours later, you get a reply. And what did you do during those two hours?Correct, eat yourself up from inside. Its not worth it.Do your own thing - alwaysIf you want to stop extrapolating, you need to be more stoic. Looking at things for what they are is not that easy. Ryan Holiday, someone who has studied stoicism, and wrote The Obstacle Is The Way, said it bestIt takes skill and discipline to bat away the pests of schwimmbad perceptions, to separate reliable signals from deceptive ones, to filter out prejudice, expectation, and fear.A conflict at work. A dip in your sales. A disagreement with your spouse.Look at things for what they are. Whats within your control? Is there something you can do right now? Can you make the situation better? Then do it. And do the job well.If you cant- do something else.Have different things in your life that you can give your attention to. For exampleAlways learn a new skillGet some exercise every dayWork on your goalsThe point is that you want to be very clear on what youre doing in your life, at any moment. If Im asking you, what are you doing? You should have a clear answer.Im relaxing, you might say.Perfect. Youre doing your own thing. Youre not a slave to your thoughts or other peoples actions.This is your life. As long as youre not harm ing yourself or others, you can do whatever you likeJust stop thinking about what everything means and start looking at things for what they are.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDarius Foroux.