Have you noticed that every time you change something in your life the change starts with how you think? You can’t do anything until you think about it first.
Go ahead and try. Do something without thinking about it.
I got you, Greg. My heart’s beating and I’m not thinking about it. I’m breathing and I’m not thinking about it.
You’re right. We do some things automatically without thinking about it. We’ll get to automatic thoughts in just a bit. But whether you want to change your behavior, your business, or your life all change starts with a change in your thinking.
Take a look around you right now. What do you see? A couch, a chair, walls, furniture, lights, windows?
Someone had to conceive of the couch you’re sitting on before the plans were made, the materials were gathered, and the work was done to make it and ship it to the store where you purchased it. Someone had to dream up the house you’re living in before it was built. I had to think of every word on this blog post in order to write it so you could read it right now.
Everything that gets done in this world begins as a thought. From the first automobile, to manned spaceflight, to the Internet, to cancer treatments, to magnificent symphonies, to Candy Crush to the awful candy – Circus Peanuts, everything had its origins in a thought. (Hey, not all of our thoughts are winners.)
The same holds true for who you are and what you do. Everything you do and everything you are begins as one of your thoughts.
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
You become what you think about. You become what you think about all day long. You create what you think about all day long. You develop solutions and ideas for what you think about all day long. You only change who you are and what you do, when you change what you think about and how you think about it.
What you think about leads you to who you are, who you will become, what you do, and what you will do.
That sounds fantastic and unbelievable, doesn’t it? But when have you ever made changes in your life that didn’t begin with a thought?
Obviously, we need to take action to make a change. But, you can’t act until you have created the thought that leads to the action.
Ninety percent of our thoughts are automatic. We don’t even realize we are thinking them. That’s our biggest problem with making changes. We have to change our thoughts before we can change our behavior.
So what are you thinking about all day long? Are they your original thoughts, or are they thoughts other people put in your head? Are they positive or negative thoughts? Are they helping or hurting you? What do you need to start thinking about that will help you reach your goals? When will I be done asking you questions?
A new friend of mine grew up poor. He didn’t finish high school. He told me that every time he came up with a great business idea, his first wife would tell him it wouldn’t work. She told him it was just pie in the sky thinking. It made him question himself and stopped him from taking action.
But then he started thinking differently. He decided he could and would make his ideas work. He opened a new checking account and called it his “Pie In The Sky” account. Every bit of profit he made from his new business idea would go into it. He changed the way he thought about his wife’s words. Instead of thinking she was right, he began thinking that she was wrong – and he was going to prove her wrong. He now runs a very successful company.
Stop reading right now and take some time to think about and answer each of the questions in this post. Write down the answers. It will help change your life.
(While you do that, I’m going to throw away some candy Circus Peanuts that are still in my daughters Halloween bag from last year. Does anyone like those?)
Glad you’re back. Hope you got some great answers. Remember, whatever you focus on, you will tend to get more of it. Your conscious and subconscious minds will get the message that this is important to you. They will work all day and night to help you with whatever it is you are thinking about. Isn’t that amazing?
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything.
–Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism
I want to give as many people as possible my free eBook, 5 Steps to Finding Your Purpose. Please forward this to a friend who needs it. If they click here, they can get the free eBook.
Let’s GO!
