The Hidden Cost of Your Thoughts

Quiet Clarity is a 2x/week letter on stillness, ambition, and meaning — for people building without losing themselves.

How many times have we felt unhappy about a situation—our job, our family, even our day to day existence?

But what if the reality was, you were just making the situation worse with your own thoughts?

And that if you could just observe them for a bit, you could build the life of your dreams?

Let me tell you what happened to me

For months, I had nothing to do in the evenings.

Every night, the same story played in my head: "I'm so bored, I don’t know what to do.”

But then I tried something different. Instead of escaping through social media or TV, I just sat with the boredom. I observed these thoughts without trying to fix them or run from them.

And something interesting started happening.

The boredom was still there, but it didn't bother me anymore. My resistance to it decreased.

Then one day, from that space of presence, I found myself writing.

Not because I should, but because something wanted to come through.

And after a year of writing, that led me to this newsletter today.

When you start observing instead of believing every thought, something shifts

Now, let’s bring this closer to something we all experience: our career

Next time you're heading to work feeling that familiar dread, just take a moment to pause.

Really feel those emotions.

That heaviness in your chest or that resistance in your body.

Ask yourself: Is the work actually draining you? Or are these emotions coming from the story you're telling yourself about the work?

You might discover it's mostly in your head. "This job is beneath me." "I'm wasting my potential." "This is pointless."

And here's where it gets tricky.

Because you believe these thoughts, you don't give your work your full presence. You show up physically but not mentally. You watch the clock, waiting for the day to end.

Then the downward spiral begins:

You've created the very reality you were afraid of.

But what if tomorrow, you tried something different?

What if when a thought popped up: "This is beneath me" or "I'm wasting my time", you just noticed it?

Like watching a cloud pass in the sky?

"Huh, there's that thought again. I'm upset because I feel like I'm better than this job."

You just observe it without acting it out.

And then you realize something. You start to notice that these thoughts have been running the show all along.

And because they have been, your external reality just matches the very thing you didn’t want.

But, as you observe without getting caught up, you start to become more present.

Presence transforms

Your energy shifts. Your boss sees you as someone engaged, worth investing in. Your co-workers naturally want to include you more. Opportunities appear that you would have missed before.

Or maybe it takes you somewhere else entirely. Maybe you start that side project. Maybe you have that conversation that changes everything.

The thing is, your job may or may not have changed.

But your relationship to it did.

I saw this pattern again recently

I was at a park, just sitting on a bench.

While just enjoying nature and being present, I had a flash of inspiration come to me.

I thought to myself, “I should include my dad and mom in my newsletters.”

It wasn't forced, it just arose naturally from the quiet.

And through creating something deeper together with them, something softened between us.

My parents and I began to really see each other.

Not just as parent and child, but as people.

You see, it’s not about the situation - it’s about your thoughts behind it

The alarm goes off, and before the day begins, our mind’s already telling stories about another pointless day.

And I get how heavy it can feel. Working long hours and carrying responsibilities no one else sees.

But even in all that, one thing is still in your control: how you relate to your thoughts.

When you start observing them instead of being consumed by them, a quiet strength begins to grow.

And that’s where real freedom starts.

From Amma’s Hand

From Nanna’s Voice