Thought Blocks

I’d like to assume you are familiar with Writer’s Block. This is important because the idea of this essay shares some meaning with the reality of writer’s block. That is how I have coined the title.

So, just in case you are not…Writer’s block is a common experience where a writer struggles to create new work at a certain level or probably experiences a creative slowdown. That is, they are unable to articulate their thoughts or just create something new.

It’s like, knowing you need to write but staring at a blank page with no idea of what to write or even where to begin.

Now, the thing with writer’s block is it easily humbles the writer. From the prize-winning writer to the novice, the feeling of helplessness when hit with writer's block isn’t butter and ice cream. I’ve felt this and it’s crippling, I tell you.

Just like writer's block, there are times when our thoughts feel entangled and cluttered, and clarity just seems out of reach. It is at this point that we wish there was a way the exact path to take is pulled out of our consciousness and clearly laid out before us so that all we have to do is walk.

Have you ever been in a season where you feel like you know what you want but struggle terribly to articulate this in a way that is coherent for execution?

Sometimes it’s the feeling of what is possible that doesn’t translate to the detail of how to create that possibility. You know you can but you do not know how to make sense of what you know.

That is what I call a Thought Block; where your mind has become mired in confusion, hindering your ability to think clearly and make decisions. It’s as though what you must do is at the tip of your fingers and at the same time it isn’t. It is as if the energy to act is present, but the specific steps and directions are missing.

Thought Blocks are like a mental fog where you struggle to see and think clearly thus creating inaction or inaccurate decisions.

Ever been in a situation where you know what to do but not how to do it?

Or you know your potential yet fail in conversion to material brilliance?

Or you feel stuck, aware you have to make a move yet confused about which to take?

Or knowing the theory or strategy but confused about how to make it pragmatic?

That's a thought block.

It's like you can see yet you cannot.

It's like you are aware yet oblivious.

How We Engage ThoughtBlocks

While thought blocks are common experiences we would have from time to time, how we engage is the difference between progress and stagnation.

This is the bane of awareness. You can be aware of a thing yet be incapacitated to leverage such awareness due to lack of wisdom. Hence, the availability of information or options isn't the challenge nor is awareness of state the issue. Rather, it is the wisdom in navigating these blocks that poses a threat.

It is essential that beyond being aware of a thought block, we are aware of how we engage. It is how we engage that defines the outcomes we would see. Either we create extraordinary outcomes or we reduce the rate of our reactions and the extent of our acceleration.

Often, the desire we have when we experience ThoughtBlocks is to step out of it as soon as we can. The challenge with this is that we tend to create pathways that get us out of this rot without considering the reality and complexity of the block.

Due to the nature of our human condition, we are more inclined to run away from feelings or flickers of unease, discomfort, or cloudiness. We unconsciously expect life to be white or black with no grey areas. We desire clarity without ever needing to experience confusion. We crave relevance without feeling silent obscurity. We desire what gives us pleasure and avoid what seems to bring us displeasure. We seek out rainy seasons but disdain dry seasons.

Isn't it ironic? That the very things we try to avoid are extremely necessary for what we seek to experience?

Now, the reality of a thought block brings feelings of unease, sluggishness, and powerlessness. It creates feelings you do not want to experience or engage. Thus, your engagement becomes tilted towards escape rather than mastery. That is, you desire to run away from the feeling and create more comforting ones than to sit in with the complexity of the feeling to establish understanding.

You will never master yourself, your thoughts, or your experiences if you do not learn to know yourself.

Knowing yourself seems vague. However, it simply means paying attention to yourself or like I would call it—self curiosity.

Seasons of thought blocks are not seasons to avoid or escape from. Instead, they are seasons to be attentive to and engage. They are seasons where you must learn to be comfortable enough to “dance-in-the-dark” to wield immense power and establish understanding over your mental condition in the moment.

Regardless of how much you desire the pain you feel in your body to leave, diagnosis will always precede prescription and usage. So why do we jump into prescriptions when we cannot sit into the process of diagnosis?

You must seek to see the fog before attempting to clear it.

In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche,

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

ThoughtBlocks: How to Navigate

Navigating thought blocks should begin with understanding WHY the block exists, defining clearly WHAT the block is, and establishing WHAT clarity of sight looks like for you.

Let's break that down:

Recognizing and Understanding the Block:

Thought Blocks are responses, not independent events. They are often triggered by underlying turmoil, which can stem from stress, uncertainty, anxiety, fear, or unmet desires. Now, the trigger would vary from person to person depending on learned behaviors.

It is not enough to be aware you are experiencing a thought block, you must sit in with it, recognize it, and thoroughly understand it. This doesn't only help you navigate the current thought block but equips you for future blocks. You become able to wield a toolbox to troubleshoot these blocks in the future.

A writer who desires to move past writer’s block would need to pay attention to its triggers, understand and recognize the form it takes, and curate a chain of actions, systems, and processes to ensure he/she can write regardless of feelings.

Moving past a thought block requires the same thing.

To navigate a thought block effectively, you need to identify the specific factors contributing to it. This could be anything from stress to unmet desires. For context and perspective, consider these and let them guide you towards self-curiosity.

Stress and Overwhelm:

Are you juggling multiple responsibilities or facing high-pressure situations? Stress can paralyze your thinking, making it difficult to see solutions.

When you experience stress or overwhelm, your mind may get clouded as a means to alert you to slow down and be mindful. When you are processing too many things at the same time, you can release conflicting commands to your brain suggesting that you are unsafe.

Have you ever wondered why you tend to get more perspective or direction while you are recovering from an illness? Or when you choose to retreat?

While we may choose to relish in the supposed mystery of this, it's science. When your body is at rest and your mind is centered, you come into a state of being. Such that you experience a level of connection that transcends the limits of your physical environment. Your soul becomes awakened to the reality of your Spirit and you can engage from a state of consciousness —not bogged down by the cares and distractions around you.

You would often find that when you are under stress or crippled by overwhelm, it becomes difficult to pull out the recesses of your brilliance to navigate situations. It is at this state we experience diverse tip-of-the-tongue moments. Where you are aware of a possibility but unable to pull it out of your subconscious. It's like seeing the contents of your mind in a doctor’s handwriting. You know it's meaningful but you can't seem to make sense of it.

The question then is - are you stressed?

If you are, this is probably the root (or one of) of your thought blocks.

Fear and Anxiety:

Are you afraid of failure or judgment? Fear would often prevent you from taking necessary steps, leading to stagnation. So, while fear is the root cause, it is what it creates that escalates into a thought blok.

The fear of the unknown or the repercussion of criticism can create patterns of cloudiness that blocks your sight and filters your ability to think clearly and decide accurately.

Fear often magnifies the unknown, causing us to doubt and disbelieve our process. The repercussion of criticism, on the other hand, is self-created. Where your judgment towards others boomerangs. It is such that what you have previously criticized becomes your current due decision. Hence, your ego as well as the reality of your judgment may cause you to romanticize this block by avoiding the decision. You may masquerade this as needing clarity whereas what you need is acceptance and movement.

Other times, this fear could be created by a false sense of perfection or superiority. When you feel too egoistic to fail or to be seen trying; you feel embarrassed by the demands of your current life experiences that it creates fear and anxiety.

For each of these roots, it's critical to determine its own root. What sponsors your fear? And, what gives strength to the anxiety you experience?

Recognition, my friends.

Attentiveness..

Curiosity..

Unmet Desires

Are you striving for goals that seem just out of reach? Unmet desires can create a sense of frustration and helplessness.

When you have an idea or image of what you want your life to look like and you do not see this, it may sponsor feelings of helplessness. This becomes exaggerated when you see others bask in the fullness of their life’s experiences which happens to be your dream. Put simply, when your vision isn't actualized yet someone else is a walking billboard of that vision.

The challenge with this is rather than being objective, you tend to see everything wrong with you–isolate yourself from the world due to feelings of unworthiness or edit your life with tactics you see externally thinking it would give you what you deeply desire.

An example would be editing your logos continually or changing your brand colors because you think if you do this, you would have similar business success as the object of your view.

Another example would be trying to look like the online bestie who just got married to her dream man in hopes that such an edit would create the same outcome in your life.

The repercussion of this is such that as you engage in these superficial edits, your mind keeps spiraling—creating new loops of confusion. Thus, consolidating the thought block and solidifying mental barriers.

When we have unmet desires, we can also think from the point of performance. The challenge with the performative approach towards life is that it disconnects you from meaning and creates disparity between your form and essence.

At the root of all this, you would discover that the ability to think clearly, objectively, and accurately is consistently arrested thus, leading to unproductive ends.

Here is what you should do:

• Take a moment to sit quietly and reflect on your current mental state.

• What emotions are you experiencing? Write them down without judgment.

• How can you see these emotions contributing to your thought block?

Defining the Block

Recognizing and Understanding why the thought block exists involves identifying underlying emotions, patterns, and triggers. The next thing to do is to clearly define the thought block itself.

The goal of definition is accuracy. When you can accurately define your reality, you can alter it to create predictable outcomes.

Hence, after recognition —definition.

Definition begs the question “What does this block look like and how does it manifest in my life”?

Does it manifest as inaction? Indecisiveness? Numbness? Blurry vision? Lack of focus or a feeling of being stuck?

It isn't enough to be aware on a surface level that you are experiencing a thing. You must dig into it and excavate its essence and visible form. You must begin to see the patterns it follows, the form it takes, and the way it manifests.

Indecisiveness - You are caught up in a web of options and you do not know which option to pick. The reality and responsibility of this choice places you at a junction that causes a thought block. Even though you know you need to move forward, you choose not to because you would rather not decide. This indecision would create a thought block.

Numbness - You suddenly develop apathy towards life and work. That is, the things that used to bring you joy and fulfillment suddenly feel empty. Numbness is when you feel detached from your “being” (your thoughts, emotions). This may look like not wanting to engage in any activity and choosing isolation over connection. Numbness is one way thought blocks may manifest. It's like you suddenly become “flat” and empty.

Blurry Vision - It is what it is: blurry vision or not seeing clearly. Blurry vision resembles seeing things in trickles that don't seem as though you are seeing anything at all.

Lack of Focus - This is a given. When you experience a thought block, you are likely to lose focus. Your mind begins to race continually towards different ends and everything you seem to engage in may seem like it is the wrong thing.

Feeling of being stuck - Here, you just feel stuck. You seem to be halted. It is as though you have nowhere to go and no path to take. The thought block may look like a big wall or hurdle that seems impossible to cross.

Defeating this starts with accepting that you are not without power. The realization of this truth creates the net your emotional and mental muscles can rest into.

Once you've accepted this, then you should;

• Write down the specific thoughts or behaviors that characterize your block (define)

• Identify patterns or triggers that increase the feelings

• Consider how this block affects your day-to-day activities and decision-making.

Establishing a Vision for Clarity

With a clear understanding of the block, the next step is to envision what clarity looks like.

This is where many people make mistakes. They stop at awareness without converting it into usable energy. Hence, it is critical to determine what the other side of the road would look like for you.

This involves asking yourself questions like -

1. What does my life look like out of this block?

2. What am I doing out of this block?

3. How am I feeling out of this block?

4. What am I unapologetic about out of this block?

5. Now I am clear, what actions am I taking to leverage this sight?

You want to define your point “B” to identify what not being bogged down by mental barriers would mean for you on every level.

If you are able to get to this point, you would have cleared the grasses on your path so much that all you need to do is reverse-engineer the last step.

I am eager to read your thoughts on this essay.

Remember, in a world where you can be anything—BE GENIUS.

Faith Ohio

How to engage me:

If you want to explore ways to work with me, please visit my website at www.faithohio.com or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Thank you.