Change your thoughts and you change your world. - Norman Vincent Peale
The mind is a truly fascinating place and the more we learn about it, the more we realize just how true this statement is. In fact, to say that the mind is fascinating is a bit of an understatement.
Recent studies by neuroscientists have shed new light on the mind and, thereby, made it even more fascinating. These experts support the claim that we’ve always driven home, here on Out of Bounds: We are much more in control of our minds, our thoughts, and our lives than we realize.
Consider this:
Your mind, on average processes 60,000 thoughts each day. Since most thinking is done on autopilot with the mind thinking the same habitual thoughts over and over again, the human mind “syndicates” many of its original thoughts in the same way TV Land syndicates favorite sitcoms.
Not only does the brain play our thoughts out as re-runs, it even protects our habits, whether they’re good or bad. These habits become Engrained Habits and, like our thoughts, they pretty much act themselves out with little input from us.
Experts say that when we’ve repeated a new thought or practiced a new habit for about 90 days (basically 3 months), it becomes part of the brain architecture… part of our hardwiring.
Remember the saying, first we make our habits and then our habits make us? Voila, another understatement.
Amazing how everything goes back to our thoughts, isn’t it? Everything begins as a thought – our every action, our every word, our every habit. They each were conceived with a single thought. If that’s not a wake up call to guard our thoughts, I don’t know what is.
We have about 60,000 thoughts each day. Do you realize the power behind that statistic?
How much power could you generate in your life with 60,000 daily thoughts?
How much destruction could you unleash upon your life with 60,000 daily thoughts?
Positive thinking breeds a positive mindset, positive habits, and positive repercussions. Negative thinking breeds a negative mindset, negative habits, and negative repercussions.
The good news is that we CAN change the way we think. My favorite illustration of this fact: Clear your mind for a second. Now think of a Beagle Puppy. He’s lying in the green grass, looking at you – cuter than anything has a right to be!
Do you see the puppy?
Now think about a $100 bill. See Benjamin Franklin’s face in the middle, with the number 100 written boldly in each corner?
So. Where’d the beagle puppy go?
“It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.” - Robert H. Schuller
This exercise is proof positive that you can push one thought aside for another thought. Personally, in this case, I’d rather think about the puppy – but you get the idea. When we have negative, destructive thoughts, we can easily push them aside and think about something positive instead.
Truth be told, it’d be better to think about the beagle puppy than it would be to think negative thoughts – so, when a negative, destructive, critical thought pops into your mind, replace it automatically with the image of a beagle puppy. Then, move on to a more positive thought pattern.
Remember, the more time you spend with a negative thought, the greater its power is to harm you. Take this power and make it work for you! Think positive thoughts and repeat positive affirmations.
As Henri Matisse said, “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” Or beagle puppies…..
Those of us in the Self Help and Mental Fitness industry love nothing more than coming up with so-called secrets to personal success and achievement. While each “secret” carries a great deal of weight and, in its own way, can help us along our route to self improvement, there is one good, old-fashioned, often overlooked truth: Positive thinking can work wonders.
