If you can believe it, you can achieve it

Buddha taught, “the mind is everything - what you think, you become.”

Then there’s the famous “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” from Napoleon Hill.

You’ve heard these quotes, I’ve heard these quotes - heck, I’m fairly certain you can probably find it on a bag of dog food somewhere so that our pets can hear these quotes too.

But, why are various iterations of it everywhere?

Well, because it’s true. It is.

Your mind is crazy powerful. More powerful than you give it credit.

It can build you up and destroy you, in five minutes, when everything around you (the ACTUAL things) stay exactly the same.

We have roughly 6,200 thoughts per day — how many of these are real things? Like, is it ACTUALLY happening in your life (“gosh those muffins out there smell ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS”) or is it something you THINK is happening (“well, she hasn’t texted me back, that MUST mean she’s angry at me for some reason”).

Those thoughts, real or not, have the power to completely change your day. The girl who didn’t text you back was shoveling snow for the last two hours and wasn’t answering her phone, but, you’ve already worked up multiple scenarios in your mind that have officially put you in a “bad mood”.

And that “bad mood” — also not real. It’s because we are what we think...or what we believe, we achieve...etc.

So, here’s a little exercise. Draw a two-column table (or use a word doc, whatever floats your boat). On one side, write down some of the thoughts that frequently enter your mind — Stuff you’re ALWAYS thinking about.

On the other side, write down what you wish your thoughts actually were.

For instance, a frequent thought could be “how am I going to pay my bills this month, my debt feels insurmountable and it’s overwhelming.”

But, you wish your thought could be, “It feels so good to have the financial freedom to not have any worries about money - I am debt free and have the ability to purchase what I need.”

Try it. And try it frequently. Like, really put a good effort in to it.

Soon enough, if you TRULY believe it, you may become what you think.

I am so grateful that I waited until a sensible time to have a muffin... 😩🤤