“Change Starts with Changing What You Think”
There’s a person inside you, you know you can be. You can just about see her. You feel her. You are so close to being that person. And yet, you look in the mirror and see someone else.
Are you with me?
It’s 6:15 am, you’re brushing your teeth, and you look in the mirror and you see this:
- Stress and strain instead of peace and calm. Dark circles, tired eyes. (And you just woke up…)
- Someone getting ready for work whose paycheck is spreading thinner, instead of enjoying financial freedom.
- Too chubby or too skinny (some people are) instead of the healthy person you know is in there, living a healthy lifestyle at a healthy weight.
- Worry and anxiety instead of confidence and excitement.
- Despair and hopelessness, instead of the person you know as positive and prosperous.
- A glimmer of hope that maybe today will be better.
What happened? Where is the better you, you know you are? What happened to that 8-year old tiger lady who wanted to be a rockstar? Where did her dreams go? Where did she go wrong?
Somewhere along the way, she let the world around her control her thoughts. She let others tell her what she should do, what schools to go to, what kind of jobs to look for, what she out to be when she grows up.
Without learning how to think her world into existence, with clarity and focus, she instead exists in someone else’s world.
I know this lady. Because I was that lady.
I grew up following the rules, the ones where you grow up learning that the way to success is by going to school, learning skills or a trade, getting a job working for someone else, and giving the system of employment control over your life.
That’s the system most people follow. And for most people, that system fails because it doesn’t lead to sustainable income or wealth.
Unless you’ve planned well for retirement, and Social Security, the banks, and investments you made pay out as promised, you may find your financial situation lacking.
It wasn’t until later in my adult life, in my late-30’s, when I became aware of another approach, a different system. The system the rich and ultra wealthy used to become ultra successful.
I owe learning about this wealth-generating system to Joe Schroeder, a successful businessman, marketing genius, and my prosperity coach, who introduced me to the book, “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill. First published in 1937, this is THE BEST book in my opinion on living your best life and creating wealth you will ever read.
Hill was inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and later-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to study successful, wealthy people, and over 20 years developed a roadmap to achievement countless have used to attain all they desire. It should be required reading in school. The foundation of Mr. Schroeder’s courses and coaching which I’ve studied over the years are based on the principles and success formula in this book.
One of the principles I learned is, nothing happens in life without first a thought. An idea cannot manifest itself without someone first putting the thought of it into their mind.
The only reason NASA exists is because in 1961 John F. Kennedy had a thought — the United States of America will put a man on the moon in this decade — and told the world about it.
How could this happen? The idea was inconceivable to most people. Many didn’t believe it possible. He inspired some, while others mocked him. Kennedy had an idea, he set the challenge, and simply said it would be.
In its simplest terms, Kennedy’s THOUGHT or idea change the course of history and mankind.
If not first the thought – put a man on the moon in this decade – billions of dollars, decades of space exploration, research, trips around the solar system, and moon landings could have never happened. It all started with a thought. A bold one, indeed.
Elon Musk is launching rockets today with “average” people on them. He is because he first imagined it to be. He had the thought first.
If you look at the great men and women in history that have changed the world – from Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, to Oprah, Lady Gaga and Gandhi, to Gates, Winfrey, King, and Jobs – they all had extraordinary imaginations, ideas, and thoughts. With laser focus and intent, they then literally thought their worlds into existence. Their success, wealth and prosperity has helped and still does billions of people around the world live better lives.
What about you?
What are you thinking about?
Who do you want to be?
What do you want your legacy to be?
Who do you identify as — your current profession or station in life? Or the you, you always thought you should be or could be?
Nothing changes, until or unless something changes.
And the change begins with what you think about.
You are not going to become the you, you want to be, until you start THINKING about who that is, with clarity, and thinking about what you desire as if you already possess it.
I learned how to THINK my world into existence.
- I could not have become a six-figure executive without 1) being clear that that’s what I wanted, and 2) staying laser focused on my thoughts and actions, doing whatever it takes (legally, ethically, morally) to achieve that.
- I could not have found the ideal partner in my life, fallen in love, gotten married and now be enjoying a wonderful marriage without first imagining and writing down the qualities I wanted in the perfect husband for me. (Yes, I did that in 2000, and in 2001 that man entered my life.)
- I could not have retired early a millionaire to start a business to help people prosper, without first being clear that that’s what I want to be and do in this chapter of my life.
My purpose in sharing these examples with you is to illustrate just how powerful your thoughts are. What you think about, what you tell yourself, and how you treat yourself will guide your life – whether that’s toward becoming all you want to be or living a life of lack and disappointment.
“You become what you give your attention to.” Greek Philosopher, Epictetus
Here’s the thing.
- You can accept being a victim of your current circumstance, or not. You have a choice.
- You CAN access the better version of yourself.
- You CAN stare back at the person in the mirror you thought you would see.
- You CAN be more of who you already are and were meant to be.
- You CAN have prosperity and the lifestyle you dream of having.
You just need help unlocking the key.
Here’s hint #1: Change what you think and believe and how you talk to yourself – both mentally and verbally aloud – and the conditions around you will change when you act on that.
What you think about, comes about. Your subconscious mind is gathering information from you all the time and that information is responsible for every action your body takes. The key word here is “action.”
It’s important to recognize that you can’t just think about what you want. You also need to do things and take action towards your thoughts.
Here’s an example, I can think all day about losing weight, but if I don’t act in a way that supports healthier eating, I will be fooling my subconscious mind. I thought one thing but did something else. I’m fooling my mind and fooling myself.
If you don’t do things that get you one step closer to what you’re thinking, your mind mocks you and says, “hey, Mary Lou, you’re not serious about that because you’re not doing what you said you would.” Guess what happens – that’s right, nothing.
Full confessions here, I have heard these words said back to me. I’ve said them to myself. I’m human, too! We all make choices every day that either get us to where we’re going or set us back a step or two. That’s OK. Just recognize that’s what’s happening and start again today.
Look, you’re either serious about making a change or you’re not. You are very smart. Your brain is very smart. Your brain recognizes the difference between what you thought and said you wanted and are willing to do, and what you said you wanted and then didn’t do.
You said you would get up a half hour earlier to work out, and then you hit the snooze button. That is inconsistent with your thoughts, so guess what? You fall back into your old self and nothing changes. “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, is a great book on starting new habits and breaking old ones.
Thoughts without action to bring them about are just that, thoughts.
Hint #2: Act on what you’re thinking every day, persistently and consistently, and the change you think about can begin to come about.
So, what are you thinking? What are you feeding your mind?
If you don’t have the life you want, change what you think about. Change the narrative.
How? Start with being clear about who you want to be and what you want your life to be like.
If you know who you want to be and what you want out of life, good for you! That’s the first step.
If you don’t already know with clarity who you want to be and identify as that person today (yes, before that person appears), now’s the time to sit quietly and identify who that person is. I outline an approach for doing this below.
This could take some time, but it’s time well-spent.
If you don’t invest the time in yourself, who will? If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you begin to identify who you want to be or want you want out of life.
- Think back to when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
- What things, activities, or experiences bring you the most joy?
- What accomplishments have you had that make you feel most proud?
- What are you most passionate about and why?
- What kind of work would you do because you love it so much, you would do it for nothing?
- What do you want people to say about you when you graduate School House Earth, what do you want your legacy to be?
These are not simple questions, nor should they be.
If you struggle answering them, I recommend going to a quiet place, outdoors, if possible, with a pad and pen and just think. Turn off your phone. Center yourself and your thoughts. Say a prayer. And just be still for a while. Let the quiet spirit inside you speak to you. Jot down what you hear.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It probably won’t be. That’s OK.
What’s important is that you make the time and take the time for yourself. Your life, everyone’s life, is always changing. What may be clear to you today, could evolve over time, in fact, if probably will. That’s OK, too.
The process of identifying who you are, who you want to be and what you want out of life is what’s most important so you can have clarity of thought around those things. Now you have an approach that gets you started.
To your prosperity!
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