You are likely familiar with the concept of writer’s block. Or perhaps you’re not? Either way, understanding it is key to grasping the essence of this essay. The term ThoughtBlock borrows from the nature of writer’s block, as both involve an internal barrier to expression and creation.

For clarity, writer’s block refers to creative paralysis—an experience where writers, regardless of skill or accolades, cannot produce new work or articulate their thoughts. It’s the unsettling reality of sitting before a blank page, knowing you need to write but feeling utterly incapable of starting or progressing.

Now, the thing with writer’s block is it does not discriminate. It humbles everyone, from the seasoned novelist to the aspiring poet. And having faced it myself, I can tell you: it’s anything but pleasant. The sense of helplessness can be crippling, serving as an unwelcome reminder that even the sharpest minds are not immune to their own limits.

It is this shared vulnerability, this universal experience of being mentally stuck, that forms the foundation of ThoughtBlock. Just like writer's block, there are times when our thoughts feel entangled and cluttered, and clarity seems out of reach. At this point, we wish there was a way the exact path to take is pulled out of our consciousness and laid out before us so that all we have to do is walk. In this essay, I explore the mental barriers we unconsciously build, why we create them, and most importantly, how to overcome them.

Sometimes, it is the expansive sense of what is possible that doesn’t translate to the detail of how to create that possibility. It is the paradox of clarity and obscurity—knowing what you are capable of but finding yourself unable to translate that knowing into actionable direction.

This is what I call a ThoughtBlock—a state where the mind, tangled in confusion, disrupts the flow of clear thought and hinders decisive action. It’s as though what you must do lingers just beyond reach, brushing the edges of your awareness but never fully landing. More like an answer being at the tip of your fingers and at the same time it isn’t. The energy to act is present, alive and pulsing, yet the path forward feels veiled, fragmented, or disjointed.

A ThoughtBlock can be likened to a mental fog, a subtle yet disorienting haze that clouds perception and judgment. In its grip, you are left circling the borders of clarity, unable to pierce through to coherent thought and swift action.

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

Or where your potential is undeniable, but converting that potential to material brilliance seems like a wide, insurmountable gap?

Perhaps, you’ve been at a crossroads or critical junctions, aware that action is necessary but paralyzed by the uncertainty of which direction to take.

Or you’ve grasped the theory, mastered the strategy, yet falter when it comes to translating it into pragmatic action?

This is a ThoughtBlock. It is the paradox of knowing and not knowing, of clarity entangled with confusion. It is the experience of seeing but not fully perceiving, of being aware yet oblivious. The mind becomes caught in a liminal space—hovering between potential and actualization, between the idea and its embodiment. You feel trapped and let loose at the same time. Nowhere and Inbetween, In and Out or Out of Space. This is a ThoughtBlock.

ThoughtBlocks don’t just hinder action. It challenges your sense of coherence. It creates a cognitive dissonance, where the gap between what you know and what you can do feels like an unbridgeable chasm.

Soren Kierkegaard described an idea that mirrors this experience as the “dizziness of freedom,” the paralyzing uncertainty that arises when faced with infinite possibilities yet unable to act. This dizziness is not rooted in external limitations but in the overwhelming weight of choice and the fear of misstep, leaving the mind suspended between potential actualization. Therefore, it isn’t a conversation about how to make it stop but how your current engagement with a ThoughtBlock extends its debris in your life and work.

While ThoughtBlocks are inevitable experiences we encounter from time to time, how we engage with them 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 that awareness due to a lack of wisdom. The issue, then, is not the availability of information or even the awareness of the block itself. Rather, the true challenge is possessing the wisdom to navigate through it.

It is not enough to recognize a ThoughtBlock; we must also discern how you engage with it. It is how you engage that defines the outcomes you would experience. Either you create superior outcomes or reduce the rate of your reactions and the extent of your acceleration. It isn’t how you feel or what goes on mentally that makes the difference. It is how you live with the feeling and sit into its complexities.

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.

The reality of a ThoughtBlock often carries with it a heavy emotional toll—unease, sluggishness, and a creeping sense of powerlessness. These are feelings we instinctively avoid, ones we’d rather push aside than confront. As a result, our engagement with the ThoughtBlock often tilts toward escape rather than mastery. Instead of facing the discomfort and complexity to establish understanding, we gravitate toward the fleeting comfort of distraction, avoidance, or even the facade of toxic positivity.

But true mastery of self, thought, and experience cannot be achieved through avoidance. It requires the courage to confront these difficult emotions head-on, to sit in their complexity long enough to extract clarity and insight. This begins with knowing yourself, not as vaguely as it tends to sound. It means paying critical attention to yourself to observe your patterns, understand your resistance, and engage deeply with the undercurrents of your thoughts. This is what I refer to as self-curiosity.

Seasons of ThoughtBlocks 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. For example, 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? Why do you prescribe relief to yourself without attempting diagnosis? You must seek to see the fog before attempting to clear it.

In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche,

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

Let's break that down:

Recognizing and Understanding the Block

ThoughtBlocks are responses, not independent events. They are often triggered by underlying turmoil, which can stem from stress, uncertainty, anxiety, fear, or unmet desires. The trigger would vary from person to person depending on learned behaviors. (be self-curious!)

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

For example, 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 how they feel.

Moving past a ThoughtBlock requires the same thing.

To navigate a ThoughtBlock 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.

While we may choose to relish in the supposed mystery of this, it is 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 ThoughtBlocks.

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 ThoughtBlock.

The fear of the unknown or the repercussion of criticism can create patterns of cloudiness that blocks your sight and filter 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 may be similar to your dream. Put simply, when your vision isn't actualized wheras, 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. You isolate yourself from the world due to feelings of unworthiness or edit your life with tactics you see externally thinking it would somehow make-up for 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 ThoughtBlock and solidifying mental barriers.

When we have unmet desires, we can also think from the point of performance. That is execution without essence and as an escape for meaning. The challenge with the performative approach towards life is that it disconnects you from meaning and creates disparity between your form and essence. You end up high with a sense of duty and failing in the experience of true living.

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

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?

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

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