Napoleon Hill, the author of the famed business book “Think & Grow Rich” (TGR), once said “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
POWER OF OUR BELIEFS
While many these days are familiar with the concept of “manifesting” back in 1937 (when Hill wrote TGR) this wasn’t a common phrase. Today there’s quite a bit of talk about all the positive that can come from manifesting. What isn’t so common is the dark side, rather the shadow side … or another way to put it the accidental causation of thoughts.
I’ll explain…
Every thought you have matters. Yes, affirmations are popular because in recent years more and more people have learned about the power of our thoughts more than ever. Out thoughts literally shape our reality (more than you may think).
When’s the last time you had a bad day?
Or perhaps when’s the last time you had something go wrong in business?
A good reflection practice would be to trace your thoughts.
TRACING THOUGHTS
The practice of tracing our thoughts is centered around solving issues from the root rather than a temporary “fix". We can look at one thought, action or thing that happens in life then work backwards. It’s just like reverse engineering the goal. Instead of starting with the end in mind, we literally start in our mind and work backwards to find how we got to where we are.
When it comes to negative thinking we often don’t have the awareness to notice we’re in a loop. AND by the way … a loop is basically being caught in a thought cycle that is … well, a loop… what feels like infinity of being stuck. We must break the loop of negative thinking to get past these negative thoughts.
WHY SO NEGATIVE?
I’ve noticed in the past year just how obvious it is that we shape our own reality. I’ll spare you my woo commentary and let you visit my Soul Seekr Podcast if you want to go deeper on the woo. But, what I would invite you to consider is that you do have the power to live your most ideal life.. And it starts with your thoughts.
Yes, positive thinking is the key. Yet, even though we can be positive most of the time; one slip up with what I call “negative manifestation” can put you back quite a bit.
I feel that it’s human nature oftentimes to look at the negative… you know play the victim role and say to ourselves “why me”, “why’d this happen to me” etc. I’d invite you to reframe these thoughts into “this happened for me” rather than to me. These simple shifts in thinking can make a world of difference in altering our reality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you take one thing away from this post, it’s this … be mindful of what you are thinking and have the awareness to trace your thoughts to reframe them (if they happen to be negative) back to the positive track.
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” - Napoleon Hill.
Will you allow yourself to have the awareness to ensure that your thoughts will support the life of your dreams?
To Mindful Living,
Sam
Sam Kabert is the creative director of SwagWorx and the creator and co-host of the podcast “WhatUp Silicon Valley!” A risk taker who embraces permanent beta, Sam is leading the transformation of his family-run office supplies business into a promotional products powerhouse. Sam can be reached at Sam@SwagWorx.com.