We have thoughts all the time including when we sleep. Researchers have shown that we think more than 50,000 thoughts per day, of which more than half are negative, and more than 90% are repeats from the day before. (Wood, 2013). The National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. The average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before and about 80% are negative.
Also, many of our thoughts are linked to emotions we feel, so that the thought can elicit an emotion, or an emotion we are feeling about a person or even can cause us to engage in further thinking or rumination, which can be positive and useful or negative and dysfunctional.
The vast majority of our thoughts are automatic, or “non-thinking” in the sense that we don’t consciously say to ourselves, “I’m going to think about….” And when we do have consciously planned thoughts, we may not have developed a structure or algorithm to derive positive benefit from those thoughts. In other words, we may not have structured a process for the thought to achieve a desirable end.
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One kind of thinking—self-reflection—can be an incredibly powerful way to get in touch with, and regulate our emotions and thoughts, and in the process, increase our emotional intelligence.
We all make mistakes whilst living as human beings as we have been blessed with the freedom to do so. While many things in this world cannot be undone, what is in our mind can be washed away, as our mind encompasses past, present and future. If we reflect on our past with a pure heart, we will be able to wipe out all the records that have been written as losses in the “Thought Tape” or “Thought Belt.” This is a great power with which we have been endowed. Through self-reflection we can learn from our mistakes, release attachments, increase our enlightenment and allow our divine nature to shine brilliantly once again.
Another aspect of self-reflection is to reach a state of mind that is calm and relaxed, thus, allowing us to communicate with our guardian or guiding spirits in the heavenly world and receive inspiration from them. Heaven and hell exist within our minds and the focus of our thoughts leads us to many worlds. Self-reflection is a way to fine-tune our mind like a compass needle to point towards and connect to the heavenly world.
“The true purpose of self-reflection is to correct our mistaken thoughts and actions, and learn from them, thereby creating a more constructive life. Self-reflection is not just the simple act of discovering past mistakes and making up for these mistakes, like resetting a negative to zero. Self-reflection, then, is a critical competency and benefit for leaders, wishing to increase their EQ and develop more mastery of self.
