What Are You Thinking About?

It's pretty basic really.

Whatever you are focused on is what is getting the bulk of your energy and attention. And regardless on if you want to look at that in the metaphysical 'Law of Attraction' way of calling that into existence or just the purely phyiscal reality that while you are fixated on one thing you cannot be constructively doing anything else it all boils down to the same thing.

You are what you think about.

But what are you thinking about?

People, by and large, are not in the habit of monitoring their thoughts. They just let them flow wherever they want and after a time, like water running over loose soil, your thoughts start to flow into well worn tracks. You have a habituated pattern of thought whether you realize it or not.

Are those thought patterns serving you? Do they inspire you? Or merely frustrate?

For the vast majority of people, their thoughts are focused on the things they do not want. They see the world as it is, complain about it to themselves, tossing and turning it over in their minds, contemplating it's unfairness, before sharing their discontent with other likeminded people.

This is pointless and worse, distructive. It goes without saying that if the situation makes you unhappy then you should be seeking to change it but if all you are doing is looking at what you don't like, then no energy is being spend on creating or moving yourself towards what you do like. You're merely wasting your energy, time and life.

Take the 10 day challenge!

Over the next 10 days I want you to be conscious of what it is you're thinking about. If you find you're thinking in negative terms, immediately change it into the positive. So instead of complaining about how it's wrong, try to see how it could benefit you, or on what you could change to improve your situation. If nothing else, force your mind onto another, positive subject altogether.

Do not let your mind dwell in the negative for more than 1 minute. If you realize you've been dwelling negatively for more than that, restart your 10 day challenge.

Daunting isn't it? But why should it be? Really?

It takes no more energy or effort to think positive, enlifting, productive thoughts than it does negative, disempowering ones.

The purpose of this exercise isn't to make you into a polly-anna person who only sees the cup as half-full. It's to make you aware of your own habituated pattern of thoughts and how limiting they are.

Most everyone who takes this challenge seriously will be stunned by how much they dwell on what they don't want and equally surprised by how much they improve their lives, in many dozens of little ways, by focusing on solutions or what they can be grateful for instead.


I myself am taking this challenge and will report in my sister blog, Preston's Path to Prosperity, daily as to my results.

Purpose

While struggling with some feelings of loneliness I decided to utilize my spare time productively by listening to the next tape in Bob Proctor's Freedom Series - which is part of the free bonus material you receive when you sign up for the Six Minutes to Success program.

The message was very profound for me today. Very profound. In a nutshell, one of the core distinctions between successful people and everyone else, is that people who have achieved outstanding results have all habituated the act of doing those things which they don't want to do but moves them towards their goals.

Most people are not so much driven by their goals as they are by the ease and comfort of their methods used. People tend to accept the easiest path that leads to sufficient results. They would rather accept a lower standard of living than consistently do those things with which they are uncomfortable.

So how do successful people become comfortable with doing those same things? They don't. But they are driven more by end results because they have associated a powerful driving purpose with those results. So they do those things they don't like anyway and they do it as part of their regular routine.

Now, I'm not speaking of anything illegal or unethical here just simple daily things like trying to convince people, who do not want to be convinced, that they would be better off with what you're offering. Or obligating yourself to produce results that you haven't previously achieved.

Now the driving purpose needs to be practical and not visionary.

And that is the statement that gave me great pause. It seemed to run contrary to everything else I had learned as far as creating a compelling future goes. However, it immediate sense.

I had always defined my purpose as:

To be a world famous author who's work touch the lives of millions of people from all over the world, spreading the seeds of profound truth and hope while entertaining people through a variety of mediums including books, movies, tvs, video games, plays, cartoons, MMORPGs, etc. Some of my works will be past down generations, touching billions of people and being immortalized like the works of Shakespeare, Shaw, Dickens and Twain.

Which is all well and good but hasn't been driving me still and that's probably because it's too visionary and not practical enough. Not immediate or real enough.

While practical, purpose doesn't need to be logical. It should be based on wants and desires that have emotional pull for you. If based solely on need that will drive you for a while, but only until your needs are met. Whereas a purpose based on wants and desires will keep on pulling you along even if there's no logical reason for wanting that as long as there's emotional desire for it.

So my new purpose looks more like this:

I want to easily earn enough that my wife never needs to work and can merrily spend on whatever suits her without ever considering costs. I want to be able to put my children through university and help set them up in life. I want to earn all that money by writing inspirational stories for children that meets them where they are at, provides a great distraction from the real world while providing profound knowledge to help them improve their lives and using stories with compelling, morally upstanding characters.

Beware The Emotion Manipulators

There are people out there who, usually due to poor self-esteem feed off of making other people miserable. The go out of their way to either take you down a peg, show their superiority or perhaps control your actions through guilt trips or emotional threats.

Cut these people out of your life. They may be family, or loved ones but if they are uncompromising in this sort of behaviour then they are a huge liability on your life.

How hard is it to continually move towards your goals when you have someone constantly reminding you of past failures or current deficiencies?

There is a song by Casting Crowns Entitled Voice of Truth:

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

There will always be people in your life who will only want to discourage you. It is often disguised as 'help' but do not allow these people to influence your thinking. Keep your mind shut tight against negative thinking.

People who succeed in life do not think in negative terms, nor do people who do ever reach any great level of success.

Worse are those people who seek to emotionally manipulate you to controls your actions or your love. In my experience these people have all been women but certainly it's possible for a man to behave in a similar fashion.

Typically these people will say things like, "If you really love me then you'd...", "I can't stay with someone who won't...", they may also nag or badger incessantly until they break down your resolve.

They may not be hurting your ego but they are constantly causing a huge distraction in your life. Nor is it possible to stay focused on your goals when you're constantly having to do other things to prove yourself time and again to someone who will never be satisfied.