60,000 Thoughts a Day: How to Filter the Noise -

You Don’t Have to Believe Every Thought You Think

You have about 60,000 thoughts a day. Your mind is constantly feeding interpretations of the world to your consciousness.

Most of these thoughts pass through without leaving a mark. Only a few trigger an emotional response.

But where does this constant stream of thoughts come from?

In my experience, there are three main sources:

1. Our Thoughts Come from Other People

We absorb signals through our senses—what we hear, read, or see—and interpret them based on other people’s thoughts.

It could be our parents, professors, or politicians. It could also be social media or our social circles.

Play it safe.
Work harder.
Don’t embarrass yourself.

These thoughts are probably not yours.

We absorb other people’s fears, limitations, and opinions—then mistake them for our own.

2. Our Thoughts Come from Habitual Thinking

We think what we think because we’re used to thinking that way.

Bad stuff always happens to me.
I can’t trust other people.
I’m not good enough.
This is all my fault.

Repetition builds well-worn mental pathways—like a four-lane highway in our brain. Neural activity follows the path of least resistance.

Your brain isn’t concerned with whether your thoughts make you happy. It only cares about efficiency. It wants to conserve energy for real threats.

So what if the thoughts running on that highway make you feel small, stuck, or stressed? Your brain doesn’t filter for that.

3. Our Thoughts Are Random

Ever had a thought so bizarre you stopped to ask yourself, Where did that come from?

Some thoughts appear like pop-up ads—unpredictable, strange, or nonsensical.

But at other times, spontaneous thoughts bring clarity and insight. These are the moments when fresh ideas emerge, when problems suddenly unravel, and when inspiration strikes like lightning.

The Truth About Thoughts

Here’s the thing about those 60,000 thoughts: you don’t have to believe or entertain all of them.

You get to choose which thoughts you nurture and which ones you release.

Borrowing insights from others is part of how we learn. As Isaac Newton said, “We stand on the shoulders of giants.”

The problem is when we mindlessly recycle thoughts that no longer serve us.

When we think the same way out of habit, even when the situation has changed.
When we cling to thoughts that make us feel defeated, deflated, or depressed.
When we keep thinking in circles instead of moving forward.

How Do You Break Free?

First, ask yourself: Is this thought helpful?

If a thought feels constrictive, like it’s shrinking your world—it’s time to let it go.
If a thought feels expansive, like it’s opening up new possibilities—it’s one to keep.

Learning to gauge the quality of your thinking by the emotion it creates for you is a power move.

Once you recognize the thoughts you want to release, how do you actually let them go?

By slowing down the rate at which thoughts come.

By intentionally creating headspace.

By getting quiet.

Go for long walks.
Take breaks.
Go on vacation.
Step away from the endless noise of input and activity.

When you clear mental space, you make room for fresh, inspired thinking.

If You Need Help With This…

I help high-achievers like you step off the mental hamster wheel and reconnect with clarity.

“Risa was my speedbump for the day.”

That’s what Alex Mont-Ros, serial entrepreneur and former Fortune 500 leader, said about our coaching sessions. And he meant it as a compliment.

Like many high achievers, Alex was moving at 100 miles an hour. Ideas. Strategies. Distractions. All swirling in his mind. My job? Slow him down just enough to see what really mattered.

In his video testimonial, Alex says, “Risa knows how to extract the gold that’s in people.” And that stuck with me. Because before you reach gold, you have to calm the dragon guarding it—the overthinking, the doubt, the endless mental noise.

That’s what we did. Every session, we cut through the fluff until he saw the one thing that truly moved him forward.

If you’re stuck in a cycle of too many ideas, maybe what you need isn’t another strategy.

Maybe you just need a speedbump.

Let’s slow down and find the gold.

Your best thinking is waiting. Let’s create space for it.