> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gilespcroft.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # “But if I ignore my thinking…” - URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/but-if-i-ignore-my-thinking/ - Published: 2026-04-24T06:00:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-04-25T07:57:57.000Z - Description: Let's call mind out on one of its most nonsensical arguments, shall we? 🤨 - Author: Giles P Croft - Tags: Thought realisation, Wisdom, Productivity, Procrastination, Insight, IMPLICATIONS, Free will, Attention [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2026/04/Emoji---Quote.jpg)](#/portal/signup/free) **“All of your emails hit the mark. Some hit THE spot!* **This is a good one Giles, very good indeed 👌”* \~ Cam (Subscriber) [Get YOUR Daily Reminders ](#/portal/signup/free) Oh minds, how I do love them. So keen are they to fight their corner (because they're [in charge](https://www.gilespcroft.com/illusion-of-control/), yeah?) that they'll do *anything* to justify their input and their worth. It doesn't bear thinking about – the number of conversations I have had with clients (or more often not-clients, because this one's the mental equivalent of the [Great Filter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%5FFilter?ref=gilespcroft.com) – it brings the shutters right down on exploration) that included a variation of a statement that began: > *“But if I ignore my thinking…”* \[insert Bad Thing Happening™ here\] 🙄 First on its list of arguments is *“…I won't get anything done!”* which is just *ridiculous*. The mind says: > 📦🗣️: *I keep you motivated. I come up with the good ideas. I do all the hard work. I get you to take action.* The corollary of which is: > 📦🗣️: *If you stop paying attention to me and doing what I say, then you will be unmotivated, out of ideas, lazy and apathetic.* But it takes the very lightest of observation to discover that it's actually the *opposite!* Just think back to, or better still, notice, the next time you have a good idea. It will come to you via the *medium* of thought (because [we can't experience anything else](https://www.gilespcroft.com/your-reality-is-a-perception-of-the-mind/)) but it will have a certain characteristic to it: it'll be new. You've been batting away at some problem or other—mulling it over, trying to figure it out, brainstorming solutions, trying to find a way forward—and getting nowhere. And then… inspiration strikes! 😯 It doesn't have to be like a flash of lightning or Moses delivering tablets of stone to you or anything, it's just a fresh take on things. A perspective you'd not seen before. Now, here's the question that I want you to slow down and answer, honestly: 🤔 Did ‘you’ do that – did ‘you’ come up with it? Really?? I say ‘honestly’ because it takes a little humility (something the mind is not good at) to relax into the inconvenient truth that no, ‘you’ did *not* come up with that new idea. One minute it wasn't there, and the next minute it was. Oh, for sure, you did *loads* of analysis and pondering *before* it happened (and if your mind is anything like mine, you'll have had a fair bit of self-satisfied thinking *after* it happened too), but are you open to the idea that none of that analysis actually *caused* the fresh new idea—something you could call an ‘insight’—to arrive? 😐 In fact, I'm willing to bet that if you *did* turn your attention to this matter and either examine past experiences or be a bit more aware of ongoing situations, you'd notice that ‘good ideas’ tend to happen under a number of commonly-reported situations: - In the shower - Waking up/falling asleep - Driving - Out in nature - Engrossed in conversation - Focused on something creative …all of which have one thing in common: **you're *not* busy analysing stuff.** Your mind's *not* fixated on the problem. The mind's not even there! (Certainly not the bit that makes out like it's [driving the bus](https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-bus-driver/).) So when it comes to the *“…I won't get anything done!”* argument, we can see it's actually more like: > 💖: *Life keeps you motivated. Presence comes up with the good ideas. Wisdom does all the hard work. Taking action is your essential nature.* And: > 📦: *If you carry on paying attention to the mind and doing what it says, then you will constantly get in the way of that natural process, immediately stifle good ideas, feel lazy, and remain stuck.* Which is why it's perfectly ok to ignore your thinking. And you'll only see this for yourself, when you give it a go. 💟 Giles SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2025/12/DR_Lockup-Black-1.png)](#/portal/signup) Want to start **every* day with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox every morning, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to **‘Think less, and live more.’* **“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” \~* Neil, UK **“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”* \~ Paula, UK [GET YOURS NOW ](#/portal/signup) ### Related [“But my mind has been quite helpful recently!”The thing is, it \*would\* say that, wouldn’t it? 🤔![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/size/w1200/2025/12/photo-1523568114750-b593de7df18f.jpeg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/my-mind-has-been-quite-helpful-recently/) More mind-nonsense. [Can’t make up your mindMaking decisions: when to use ‘Free-flow mode’ 🌊![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/size/w1200/2026/04/2025-06-12-Can-t-make-up-your-mind.JPG)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/cant-make-up-your-mind/) The two modes of thinking we have at our disposal.