Quieting the Chatter

How to address our internal sources of noise.

All,

As a quick follow up to our Sunday discussion on the power of silence, I am sending along a book recommendation to address our non-external sources of noise.

In other words, the incessant rumination, preparation and calculation that goes on inside our own heads.

Some perspective: In Chatter, by Ethan Kross, the author sets the tone with the following context:

“Our verbal stream of thought is so industrious that according to one study we internally talk to ourselves at a rate equivalent to speaking four thousand words per minute out loud. To put this in perspective, consider that contemporary American presidents’ State of the Union speeches normally run around six thousand words and last over an hour. Our brains pack nearly the same verbiage into a mere sixty seconds. This means that if we’re awake for sixteen hours on any given day, as most of us are, and our inner voice is active about half of that time, we can theoretically be treated to about 320 State of the Union addresses each day.”

Exhausted? Me too.

So know that if your biggest source of noise is self-imposed, you’re a) not alone and b) likely to benefit from reading Chatter. It’s a light, easy-flowing book that combines anecdotal evidence with just the right amount of science to be digestible.

And there’s a good chance it will teach you a lot about yourself while providing tangible strategies to politely get that voice inside your head to shut up.

Now doesn’t that sound peaceful?

Here’s to you,