in the previous post, i shared that our thoughts influence how we feel and act. in this post, i will be talking about how thinking is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”
henry ford
what you focus on, grows.
say, if you focus on the bad or the negative, you’re putting your energy in looking out for what’s wrong, what’s not working — more negativity — and as a result, you will find more of it!
same is the case when you focus on the good, positive, and possibilities. when you focus on what’s possible, what’s good about the situation, what’s working, you are putting your energy to find that out and you will find more good.
recommended read: 5 simple ways to think consciously
our thinking can either take us on a downward spiral – concentrating on negativity, what’s not working, etc;
OR
it can take us on an upward spiral with thoughts of gratitude and possibilities.
and as mentioned earlier, our thoughts lead to our feelings which in turn influence our actions.
recommended read: 13 triggers to practice gratitude every day
so, with a negative or a limiting mindset, with a mindset that thinks “i can’t do it” or “it is not possible”, we are bound to feel unmotivated, low, hopeless. we won’t have that drive from within; we’ll come across “obstacles” and we’ll find excuses for why it can’t happen. we won’t give our 100% because we would have already lost in our minds. in the end, chances are, we won’t acccomplish our goal and we would have various excuses for it.
on the other hand, with a mindset that thinks “I can do it”, that looks for what’s working, etc, we will feel happy, pumped up, hopeful, motivated, and confident and our actions will be fuelled by those feelings. We will turn obstacles to opportunities; will look for ways to make things work.
either way, we make our thoughts come true and say “i knew it.” — self-fulfilling prophecy
we can either have excuses OR results. not both.
“believe you can and you are halfway there.”
theodore roosevelt
—
one might argue — “it is important to see the glass half empty or “what’s missing” to improve and grow”
my response — yes, it is important to see the gap, see “what’s missing” to grow but there’s a way to it.
the key is to not be attached to the gap but rather see it objectively.
don’t see what’s missing to blame or beat yourself up and/or others, make excuses, make disempowering stories about yourself and/or others.
quite simply, study the facts and let the facts guide your plan of action. see what’s missing and how/what you can do about it, how you can improve it.
have a result-oriented mindset.
—
summary
our thoughts influence our feelings and actions.
what we focus on, grows.
if we focus on what’s not working, what’s wrong – we will find more of that which doesn’t work and what’s wrong.
if we look for what’s working, what’s good about the situation – we will find more things to be grateful for.
focus your energy on what’s working, what’s possible.
when doing gap analysis (where you are vs where you want to be) – look at it objectively. no blames, no complaints, only a list of actions that will help you achieve your goal.
break the pattern!
YOU CAN DO IT!
in the end, i would like to leave you with this short poem by walter d. wintle, which summarizes the whole point of this post perfectly.
“if you think you are beaten, you are if you think you dare not, you don't, if you like to win, but you think you can't it is almost certain you won't. if you think you'll lose, you're lost for out of the world we find, success begins with a fellow's will it's all in the state of mind if you think you are outclassed, you are you've got to think high to rise, you've got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize. life's battles don't always go yo the stronger or faster man, but soon or late the man who wins is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!” ― walter d. wintle
the next post is on how to think during hardships. we all go through hardships, they’re part of life. i will be sharing some empowering perspectives to get through them from the space of possibilities.
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