Changing one’s habitual way of living becomes tough if your Mind resists the change too much. You may have willingness to change, but the Mind may not support you easily in the process.

I have seen this pattern with my clients and also with me at times. We (to be specific, our Mind) seek permanence. We are used to the way we live (even though the current way of living is not supporting us). Changing it may not be comfortable for our mind. We may go blank during this time! We feel that our mind is jammed. Some may feel extremely tired even though they have not done any major physical or mental work. You may not get any new ideas or may not understand what is going on with and around you.

This feeling state prevents you from progressing in the right direction. You may be attempting to act against your habitual way of acting, but the mind may not go with you. It will go blank and you may feel alienated for sometime.

Reasons for Going Blank

Change

When you want to make progress in the direction of your goal, you are required to make lots of changes with your mind. You need to learn new way of looking at life and also behving in a new way to create the results you want. As told before, the mind seeks for permanence. Remaining in the known is easier than changing for the good.

Overwhelmed

When you encounter that you are required to do lots of things in a small span of time or with limited external resources at hand, you tend to go blank sometimes. Your mind knows that it is difficult to get things done in this situation, so accepting the fact and asking for help may be a wise move in this situation, but instead mind may go blank!

Anticipating something bad to happen

You may have time when the future looks blurry or scary at times. The appropriate move would be to take a step back and look for the action steps you can take in the present. Instead, you may find your mind going blank.

Anxiety to perform in front of a group of people

Speaking in front of a group of people is a common anxiety provoking situation for many. People tend to freeze rather than express and mind goes blank here too.

Lack of sleep

When the body and mind do not get adequate rest by lack of sleep, the efficiency with which they support us in our journey goes down. Going blank in this situation is the way of our mind and body to tell us to take rest and give time for them to regain their efficiency.

Shocked by a traumatic event

When exposed to any life-threating event, for sometime mind can not comprehend the further steps to be taken. It also cannot make sense of why such a thing could ever happen to you. This makes us go blank!

Feeling extremely happy!

When we are exposed to such an event which is beyond our wild imagination, we may not initially believe that it could happen to us. Have you had this any time? Share if any.

For some, this (going blank) is the number one reason why they don’t make enough progress in creating a resourceful life. Even though they are motivated and want to live life to their full potential, their Minds play tricks with them. It stops supporting. This blocks the process of learning to overcome difficult emotional events or creating the change you want.

It is also believed that changing from one state of being to an another requires lots of resources of your Mind. So, if it is occupied with some other stuff, it won’t respond but will go blank.

This pattern discourages many. They start believing in that they can not change as their attempts don’t turn into their desired outcomes.

This pattern can be unlearned. Yes, it is possible. You don’t need to surrender to this pattern that resists the change.

I have personally found following measures very useful to overcome this pattern.

Stop thinking about your future for a time being

Yes, this is true. When we go blank, the usual tendency for most of us is to worry about our future. We tend to think that our future is going to be blurry as we cannot make any progress in the future because of going blank. This is the time when we actually need to stop focusing on future for a time being.

Shift the focus onto the environment around you

Taking conscious note of your environment helps in this situation. It has helped me getting myself back whenever I consciously focus on various sensory inputs from surrounding. I take notes of colors of walls and various objects, pay attention to sound and voices around me, feel the air that I breath in, focus on the touch and pressure sensation in my back etc. This helps in stopping my critical mind to analyse further and be in the present moment experience of the environment around me.

Do not attempt to strategize in this state of yourself

Getting your mind to decide for strategic action steps increases the problem. It needs more resources and when the mind is already going blank, it is difficult to get more resources to allocate for strategizing.

Follow your intuition

Connecting with your soul or spirit helps in this state. Do not force the conscious mind to work hard, instead just let the higher source provide you the guidance in the form of intuitions. I have observed that when I set an intention to receive intuitive guidance in this state of my mind, slowly I feel that I am getting myself back. The guidance that I receive helps me deciding my future course of actions.

Listen to good audios (instrumental music, self-help CDs)

Listening to music helps as it changes your vibrational state. Confusion decreases and clarity appears. Let your breathing clear the tension out of your mind and body while you are listening to a good piece of music. It helps you connect with the Source and you will be provided with new insights.

Do not force your mind to pay attention to every thought you think, instead just let them pass

Just let them go. Usual tendency is to catch the thoughts for we don’t miss anything that can solve the issue. But, this will increase the current problem. Take note of the thoughts, but don’t get attached with them. As the birds don’t leave any impression in the sky, your thoughts would come and go; they won’t leave any impression in your mind.

Go for a walk or exercise

The simplest and effective way to get the clarity back is to go for a walk or do some exercise. As your body moves, it clears your mind too. Energy returns, you feel more alive and your Mind starts functioning back to its full efficiency. Yes, this is really easy, but very few of us do that. We wait for the right mood for walking and exercise to appear before we act. Acting in spite of you not feeling good will soon make you feel good.

I am sure theses thoughts and experiences of mine have helped you find some insights for your journey called LIFE. Do share your experiences and let others learn from you too. You can give your comments below this post and you can also share this article easily by using ‘Share/Bookmark This Post’ link.

Dr. Sudeep Shroff
Creating a Resourceful Life