Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 480 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Good to be here with you, as always thank you for choosing this podcast to listen to out of the millions you have to choose from, I am honored you’re here.
Thoughts have been on my mind so much recently. Probably because I read so much about them. The things I’m reading though all point in one direction. Back to me.
The very famous author Napoleon Hill tells of a pivotal moment in his life. His mother died when he was 8 and a year after that his dad remarried. When he was introduced to his new stepmom he was determined to scowl and dislike her. But as his dad introduced her he had his arms crossed and a sour look on his face…his dad said, this is your son Napoleon, he’s the meanest boy in Wise County. His stepmom walked up to him and lifted his chin and said you’re wrong about this one he’s a smart boy who’s not yet learned how to make the best use of his wisdom. When he replaced the idea that he was mean with the seed idea that he was wise…his life moved quickly towards the successful person he was meant to be.
As I read that I thought about what beliefs I held about myself. Some are very good strong beliefs like I’m innately good at design, that comes very natural to me. I love people. I am an uplifter. But there are some deep seated thoughts that I don’t want to believe but they are there like I don’t want to take on too much responsibility. I am not wildly successful when it comes to my businesses because I’m not business oriented. I would rather just do the fun parts. Another thought I have is sometimes, not often, but I get thoughts like…my podcast is too frivolous to be taken seriously. I’m no Wayne dyer or Tony Robbins. As I say these I know that I have to counteract them. You know why it’s so important to counteract those thoughts? It’s because a thought you don’t correct or stop thinking turns into a belief. A belief is a simply a thought you keep on thinking. So there’s nothing wrong with having human thoughts, the key is you have to question them. You have to correct them before they get a hold on you and become a belief. I don’t have to be Wayne dyer or Tony Robbins. I just have to be me. And every single episode of my podcast is authentically created by me even though I am influenced by the great minds that I read. We are all influenced in one way or another. Tony Robbins and Wayne Dyer were very influenced by others as well. Sometimes if I don’t know how to stop or correct a thought, I will ask a question and see where the answer lies..so for instance..what would I need to do to be business oriented? How would that look? Or, Would I have consistent listeners if my podcast was frivolous? As far as responsibility goes..every time I take on a responsibility it allows me to grow and that is something I deeply love doing. So responsibility is a really good thing. My two new pups Sonny and charlie are responsibility and the joy they’ve already brought is irreplaceable. So maybe I do love responsibility after-all. I could keep going on correcting and reversing the thoughts I have that come up but I think you get the idea. Be super careful about your thoughts. Do NOT believe everything you think. And certainly don’t allow them to marinate, I make a yummy chicken dinner and I marinate it in a brine. The longer it sits in that brine the more saturated that chicken gets. Same goes for your thoughts. The longer you dwell on a thought, or the longer you keep thinking a thought, the more likely it will become a belief and that’s great if the thought is uplifting and inspiring, but if it’s negative or disempowering, do whatever it takes to change that thought because once it’s a belief it becomes a whole lot harder. Little Napoleon Hill thought he was mean until someone else believed he was smart, which made him question his thoughts. He knew he would rather be smart than mean, and once he realized he had a choice, he started doing the things that smart kids do and stopped doing the things that mean kids do.
Our beliefs about ourself shape what we do. They shape who we hang out with, how we care for ourself, what we eat, what we wear…where we live. How we treat people, how we allow people to treat us.
If you take a close look at your life, your friends, your career, your body, it will tell you a lot about your beliefs.
The beautiful thing though about beliefs is they don’t have to be permanent. If you don’t like the trajectory of your life, you can change it. John Templeton says that our personality is ever in a state of change for it creates itself anew based on ideas that go in and come out of our heads. When I read that I was surprised because I thought my personality was what it was. I thought I was just born this way. But the more I study the more I realize we weren’t born with beliefs. We took on the ideas of the people who influenced us the most. Which means, we can change those ideas if they aren’t serving us. The world is our oyster, it really is. There are endless opportunities, we just have to believe we’re worthy of them.
My challenge to you this week is to look at your life. Do you ever question the thoughts that aren’t serving you or do you just accept it as that’s just how you are or that’s just the way my mind works. The good news is it’s not. You are not your thoughts, but your life is a product of them. Who you are today is a product of the thoughts you have had up til now, who you will be tomorrow is up to you and the thoughts you decide to keep thinking. Share this with 3 people who deserve to live their best life now. I love you guys, I’ll talk to you guys in a few days.