A familiar challenge for lots of people, especially when aiming to accomplish mindfulness or meditation, is that they cannot clear their minds. Realise that your very efforts to clear or quieten the mind can often be the cause. Your mind becomes filled with the distractions of the very same ideas you are making an effort to eliminate. Focussing your mind on one thing, will help you to find that first beachhead of quietness. As you practice more, you will find that you can expand the quietness outwards to create a quiet space even within a noisy mind.