Power Your Brain, Power Your Mind

As I am being immersed more and more in the entrepreneurial world, I am coming across one topic over and over again. It’s not “How to leverage social media” or “Quick ways to make a million dollars.” This topic is “the power of your thoughts.”

You can’t seem to take an entrepreneurial course or seminar without coming across teachings, phrases or quotes associated with the power of your thoughts. Some of my favorite examples are below:

 “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” - Peace Pilgrim

“What we think & how we think plays a major role in creating the life we live. If you want to change your life, change the way you look at things around.” - Taranpreet Singh

“The closer you come to knowing that you alone create the world of your experience, the more vital it becomes for you to discover just who is doing the creating.” - Eric Micha'el Leventhal

“The moment you think you can do something that you previously thought you couldn't, you can.” - Richie Norton

What one can derive from these quotes is that your brain plays a key part in what you achieve or don’t achieve.

Digging deeper and analyzing how thoughts have had an impact on my life, I couldn’t help but think of a trip to Colorado. My brother, husband, cousin and I took a trip to Colorado to go skiing. Not being very experienced skiers, our first thoughts upon getting off of the chair lift were, “Do we really have to go down that?” Unfortunately, the answer was, “Yes, that is the only way down.” So we started down the slope. 

My brother and I made it down the hill pretty easily; however, my cousin was having a lot of trouble. My husband stayed with her and helped her down, but it was a struggle. After getting to the bottom of the hill, we stopped for a snack and a discussion about our experiences. What ended up happening during this discussion was that each one of us revealed what our internal thoughts were telling us on the way down. 

First off, my brother. To him, the turns were the worst part. To overcome his fear, during each turn he would say “puppies, puppies, puppies” over and over again to himself. Because who doesn’t love puppies! His results: He went down the slope with relative ease. 

Now on to me. Being slightly competitive and seeing Michael skiing down the hill with relative ease, my internal thoughts were telling me, “If Michael can do it, I can do it.” My results: I didn’t even fall once!

Lastly, my cousin. She was continuously telling herself that others could do it, but she couldn’t. Her thoughts were: “Sarah’s been to the Austrian Alps, so that’s why she can do it better than me” and “Michael skateboarded and played hockey, so that’s why he isn’t having any problems.” Her results: A constant struggle down the hill.

Upon getting off of the chairlift, we were all placed in the exact same predicament: we were uncomfortable, out of our element, scared and inexperienced. I fully believe that our internal thoughts, and those thoughts alone, lead us to have different experiences and outcomes. My brother and I skied down the mountain with relative ease, because our thoughts were positive and telling us we could do it. My cousin struggled greatly. Her thoughts were negative and were giving her excuses why others could do it and not her. I honestly believe that if she had adjusted her thoughts at the beginning of the run, she would have had a vastly different experience.

Do not let your thoughts bring you down. Do not let your thoughts produce a reality that is not positive. Your thoughts can be your greatest cheerleader or your greatest enemy.  When you’re fearful of a situation, take a deep breath and think “I can do this” or “puppies, puppies, puppies” like my brother did! Ignore the multitude of reasons why you think you can’t.  As Albert Einstein said, “Your imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions.” Use your thoughts to create positive, uplifting, and wonderful coming attractions!

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