Your Life Follows Your Thoughts

Last week I challenged you to start your own 30 day challenge. Did you decide  WHAT you wanted to focus on AND did you START? I shared my goal to reduce my sugar intake with a detoxing for the first week and then reducing that amount for the rest of the 30 days. I will say, the first three days were much harder than I anticipated but the fourth, fifth, and now the full week got easier and easier. Even in that amount of time, I have found a difference in my belly and I lost a pound. That was the only change I made for these results so I have seen some slight results and ready to go the rest of the 30 days. 

Remember Kelly and her 365 days of happiness? She left a comment on the blog, “Oh yeah! The day of happy is a habit, and I am going to keep going. Not even going to set a limit on myself this time around! :)” WOW!!  Thanks, Kelly!  You’re a great testimonial to following through with a goal AND not only is it a habit, but you have even expanded it.  Congratulations!!

In tandem with your 30 day goal, this week I want to focus on how you talk to yourself. In this week’s Success magazine, Joel Osteen is on the cover. He is the pastor for the Lakewood Church in Houston, a motivational speaker, and an author of countless books. On the audio CD, included in the magazine, Joel’s comments had me continuously starting and stopping the interview so I could write down his message.  The gist… “Your Life Follows Your Thoughts.” What a powerful statement!

Interestingly enough it’s natural for some people to be negative. That’s what they heard when they were growing up so they often don’t even see themselves as negative. Turning around your self-talk is critical in order for your life to not only change but for your life to get better.

What is YOUR inner dialog? How do you talk to yourself? Are the negative “voices” trying to put you down, questioning your actions/decisions, telling you that you can’t do something? “If you don’t talk to yourself the right way then “your self” will talk to you. The negative thoughts will push you down,” according to Joel. Your MINDSET is the key!

 

How often do you find yourself listening to those negative voices? How often do you find yourself comparing yourself to others and feeling inadequate? How often do you find yourself trying to please others to avoid a conflict or hope that this time they will see your true value?  I must say that when I was younger, I fit into the more negative mindset category. On one hand I knew I did some things well and that I was good at some things, but then my thoughts would turn to...I should have done something better or everyone else is more talented. When I was younger, my sister use to call me “Miss Perfect.” Little did others know, I felt far from being perfect, I just wanted to do the right thing. (First born syndrome, I guess.) I had a colleague once tell me I was too organized. When I asked if I was imposing my system on him; he told me no, but it made him look bad.  I didn’t change and needless to say, he and I didn’t team teach together for very long.

The naysayers are out there! We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Your focus needs to be on what YOU believe in, what you’re “called” to do. I always wanted everyone to like me, I avoided conflicts, and earlier, I would try to do things so that others would feel more comfortable or that it would avoid problems. However, I knew in my heart of hearts, in my gut, that I was not being true to myself. I finally accepted, many years ago, that not everyone was going to like me, understand me etc. and that was ok. Many who are negative and critical are never going to be our supporters no matter what we do. Does any of that ring true for you? The key is to be true to yourself. It’s time to learn to tune out the naysayers. “We can’t let the naysayers, the haters, the critical people get into our inside “voice.” That will only keep us from being the best we can be.

Tuning out those naysayers is easier said than done, I totally get that. That is why Joel’s words hit home; “We need to shift our thinking and NOT take in the negative and the criticism if we don’t have to!”  If that battle isn’t between you and your destiny, your dreams, your goals, your values, then it’s not a battle worth fighting. There are always detractors and criticizers. Constructive criticism is one thing, but we’re talking about people who are never going to like us or be for us no matter what we do or say. Often times, these distractions are meant to get us off course. Ignore them!  Don’t waste your time. Retaliation may “feel” better for an instant, but it definitely doesn’t solve the problem, and we’ve now lowered ourselves to their level. If it’s not between you and your destiny then it’s just a distraction.

Acknowledge that ignoring the negative and not allowing it inside you is one thing, but what can you do to really make a change? First of all, look to surround yourself with people who do have a positive mindset, people who are moving forward, people that are accomplishing their dreams and desires, and people that walk their talk. These are people who are able to tune out the negative. YOU can be the one to stay respectful, YOU can be the one to take the high road, and YOU will be the one that will go further.  YOU must be true to who you are using your entire God given skills, talents, and heart. Personally, I’ve learned I would rather be criticized for who I am than criticized for who I’m not.

The transformation of my mindset was due to a focus and specific actions. First of all, I begin and end each day with gratitude. I am grateful for Jon, our children, and grandchildren, I’m grateful for my health, I’m excited about another new day on this earth etc. My focus is on what is going right not what is wrong. I continually listen to positive CD’s whenever I’m in the car, and I’m regularly reading things that will help me learn and grow. These small steps have had more of an influence in my daily mindset than I ever would have realized. When I focus on all that is right versus wrong then my days go much better.

I’m of the belief that we won’t ever reach our true potential if we aren’t being true to who we are on the inside. Our true blessings come when we are true to ourselves. More than just a positive mindset, we need to be listening to that inner “voice.” Joel Osteen states, “Your Life Follows Your Thoughts.” So much of life is about perspective (judgment). We each have our own perspective, our own judgement. We can either focus on what’s wrong, what we don’t have, how impossible something appears to be, or we can turn around our thinking. We can focus on what we do have, our creativity to solve the problems, and we can let go of what doesn’t “fit” with who we really are deep down in our core.

As you continue this next week with your 30 day goal, what is your mindset? Are you now finding the change is a little bit easier each day? It’s a journey, a process, and like Kelly found out, it is a habit worth establishing with very little effort.

Here’s an important question…Are you better off with your finances, are you wiser, are you further along in your career, are your relationships stronger, are you improving your health? We shouldn’t be at the same place we were a year ago. Now is a time for a new beginning.

Start the New Year off with your 30 day goal and follow through with that goal for the ENTIRE 30 days. Pay attention to your mindset.  Are you focusing on why this is a good thing for you to do for yourself? Are you focusing on the fact your goal will pay many dividends in your life? Are you focusing on the fact you WILL be successful for the 30 days? Or are you listening to those negative “voices” telling you this is hard, it’s not worth it, I don’t need to do this, I have other things that need to get done etc.?

Unless you want things to be exactly the same one year from now, something has to change. Now is the time. We all realize how quickly this year went by. DON’T let another year go by without making a change to improve yourself! One goal - 30 days!

I wish you a week of reflection, a week of continuing your 30 day goal, and a healthy, positive inner voice. Whatever is healthy is growing!