How To Control Your Thoughts

Oh crap, did I put my red shirt in with my whites?

I think, therefore, I am
- Rene Descartes

Mind is the master power that molds and makes
And man is Mind and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought and, shaping what he wills
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills.
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking glass.
- James Allen

Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right
- Henry Ford

If you’ve done even the tiniest bit of self-development work, you’re familiar with the concept that your thoughts create your reality.

And if you’re anything like most people, you approach it with an attitude of “yes, yes, absolutely, it’s all about changing my thoughts and I can do it and I will” and then off you go, doop de doo, worrying about money, badmouthing yourself, waiting until the time is absolutely perfect before_____, focusing on why nots, dropping your prices because of the economy, playing it safe in a career that you’re good at even though it puts you in a deep deep coma and on and on….

You have GOT to get a handle on your thoughts if you want to change your life. If you want something badly enough, even if you don’t fully believe you can have it, believe it anyway. Fake it until you make it. Do it in spite of yourself. Act as if.

And more specifically, do the following:

Surround Yourself With People Who Think The Way You Want to Think.

Ever notice how you can be in your glory, on top of the mountain, when suddenly someone comes along say, like, oh, your parents, your significant other, someone who you think is really cool, and all they have to do is make one wisecrack about what you’re doing and suddenly your balloon goes flat?

And conversely, how when you’re surrounded by people who are kicking ass and doing huge and glorious things, you feel like a superhero? Will you please make a point to hang out with the latter?

Make a conscious choice to do this. And if you don’t know anyone who’s doing great things, go out and make some new friends.

Keep Your Big Crazy Dreams to Yourself

Until you’ve done some quality control and are sure who you’re dealing with, don’t tell anyone what you’re doing. You have your own doubts and fears to keep at bay, you don’t need everyone else’s. Most people will offer you their opinions and doubts, all out of love and concern of course, but, as discussed above, instead of feeling loved, you will immediately feel justified in sticking with your excuses. The only people you’re authorized to discuss your goals with are the ones who can see big things for you and will do a cartwheel for you. Otherwise, talk about the weather. Protect your dreams with your life.

Meditate

When you shut up for even ten minutes and start to really notice what type of thoughts are squirreling around in your mind, it’s rather….illuminating. If you’re like most people, the majority of your thoughts are about as valuable and interesting as a bunch of sugar-filled kindergarteners fighting over a sippy cup.

Sit in silence for 30, 20 even 5 minutes a day. Every single solitary day I am so not kidding over here. The only way to control your thoughts is to become aware of them in the first place. Sit quietly and try not to think. When you do, simply notice what comes through. Once you’re aware of your thoughts, you can work on controlling them.

Snap Yourself Out of It

Because you have taken my wise advice and are now meditating daily, you are better and better at becoming aware of negative thoughts the second they enter your brain. Whenever this happens, do any or all of the following:
• Instantly reverse the thought i.e. “I can’t because I don’t have the money” to “I will make the money”
• Jump up and say the above out loud – scream it if you have to to snap yourself out of it (easier done if you live alone, but you’ll get the last laugh when you’re living a rocking life so don’t worry about how crazy you might look).
• Come up with a mantra. This can be anything – a quote, a song lyric, a decision, a goal – whatever sets your pants on fire. When a negative thought creeps in, beat it to death with your mantra.

Change Your Environment

Beautify your surroundings, hang pictures of what you want your life to look like all over your house, make a playlist of songs that get you pumped up and listen to it often, read books, listen to motivational tapes, put encouraging sticky notes all over your house, drown yourself in positivity until it makes you gag and then do it some more. Our culture is so fear-based that you need to arm yourself with a massive truckload of I can dooooooo eeeeeeeeeet!

Read Your Manifesto

Write down your goals and your vision of your ideal life and read it to yourself before you go to bed and after you wake up every single solitary day I am so not kidding over here.

Get Coaching

I can personally attribute the majority of my success to the fact that I hire coaches to keep me in the proper head space. Think about it – professional athletes have coaches. They don’t decide all of a sudden, “alrighty, I just made 8 million bucks throwing a ball around this year, I think I’m pretty well set to do this on my own.” They continue to get coaching so they can stay at their peak level and keep growing. What makes you think you think you can do it all by yourself?

Cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things, (from As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, while we’re on the subject of brilliant books you need to read).

I promise you, if you make controlling your thoughts a top priority in your day to day life, succeed at keeping them positive and in harmony with your dreams, and take radical action in the right direction, you can have whatever you want.

Whatever. You. Want.

How frikken awesome (and honestly, no harder than you choose to make it) is that?!