Life of the mind

There is a flow to your life and much of that flow is found within the thoughts that fill your mind. 

Those thoughts are wholly your own. No one else thinks the same as you. 

Your thoughts and ideas are unique and truly yours. 

Their subject determines so much about your life. 

How often do you stop and ponder exactly what does go through your mind? 

Do you hold thoughts captive? 

Do you strain your mind to control its contents? 

With so much riding on the ideas rolling around in your mind, it makes little sense not to. 

Successful men and women don’t allow thoughts to stride through their mind willy-nilly. No, they expend great energy to inform their minds. 

Take a play from their playbook and do the same. 

If life is foremost the life of the mind, success if anything else comes from disciplining your mind.  

The power of positive thinking

There is power in positive thinking. Although, it’s not the power you’ve been led to believe.

Positivity won’t suddenly bend the laws of nature and society to your will and make all your dreams come true. It’s not a magic weapon or secret to unlocking your best life now. 

It is a remarkably useful and essential tool to have on your toolbelt. 

Having a positive outlook and attitude improves your performance. 

One reason is that your emotions and thoughts aren’t an extra hurdle for you to climb. 

You can focus your energy and think about the actual problems in the real world, instead of the ones in your head. 

Why create more stress and work for yourself by thinking negatively? 

It might be a difficult habit to break, but it’s one worth it. 

Practice finding the good in every situation and focusing on it. Then set to banishing negativity from your mind. 

Keep it simple.

This is a simple blog. 

It is full of simple sentences, simple posts, and simple ideas. 

There's a reason why. 

Things don't have to be complicated to work. In fact, the simplest answer is often the best.

• Need more uninterrupted work time? Get up earlier. 
• Want to be and feel healthier? Eat nutritious whole foods and work out.
• Want to grow spiritually? Read your Bible. 

Don't confuse simple with easy. 

The most difficult things in the world are incredibly simple. 

• Love your neighbor
• Control your tongue
• Put others first

Each idea is so simple it's encapsulated in three words. But each is so hard none of us nail them perfectly. 

In a world of ever increasing complexity, your answers don't have to be. 

Complexity is often the lazy man’s way out. He doesn’t want to discipline himself to keep digging, to keep thinking, and to get creative.

One is about minimizing effort, while the other is about minimizing clutter.

Think hard. 

Remove clutter.

Keep it simple. 

Thinking and acting like a champion comes first.

You don’t reach the top of your profession or field of endeavor only to then start behaving like a champion. 

You reach the pinnacle of excellence by living and breathing the actions and habits of a champion.

Shifting your mindset and behavior comes first. 

Once you flip that switch and commit all you have to it, everything else tends to fall into place. 

It won’t be immediate, but if you pursue it all day every day you’ll catch excellence in the end.

What You Focus On

Have you noticed that the more you focus on a problem or mistake the more you repeat it?

That’s because your focus determines your output. 

What you focus your energy on is what you’ll produce. 

In other words, your behavior follows your mindset.

If you’re focused on not doing a particular thing, chances are you’re setting the stage for it to happen again. And again. And again. 

While taking things seriously and holding the line is important, so is focusing on the right things. 

Don't waste time and energy dwelling on the negative. Focus intently on the positive instead. 

There is a positive side to every problem you encounter. Focus on it. 

It is always better to be for something positive, than against something negative. 

Discipline your mind to think in this way. Discipline it to focus in the right direction. 

Change your thinking, and you’ll change your life. But as with everything else, that’s going to require discipline.