We all may be born equal in terms of inalienable rights like freedom and dignity, but by no means are we born equal. Whether due to your parent’s poverty or wealth, innate abilities, diet, or even geography, both nature and nurture lobby against equality at the starting line.
So what is a successful life?
A few moments' thought will convince us that the question is by no means an easy one to answer. We say this and that, injecting our opinion to what makes a person successful, but what do we mean by it?
A person may have houses and lands, has a large bank account, drives fast cars and has many apparent friends, such a man is accounted successful. Yet all of these things that minister to his pleasure have been acquired by unremitting labor, by hard, cut throat dealings with his fellow-men, by trampling upon the hearts and affections of thousands.
In the face of these facts is the man still a successful one?
Depends who you ask. Which brings me to the point of this article.
What distinguishes the wealthy from the poverty stricken?
The man who becomes wealthy is in a measure successful, but only so far as the acquirement sharpens his intellect, broadens his powers, and develops him into a self-reliant, powerful member of society for its good. Selfish wealth is never good. One may be a millionaire, but if with it comes greed and the oppression of others, the success is small indeed.
Scattered along the path of life we find examples of men whose success brought them fame and glory and they are valuable members of society. Bill Gates and his wife are among these. The Gates, whose estimated net worth is $66 billion according to FORBES, have signed the Giving Pledge, promising to give away the majority of their wealth in their lifetime, and have, through their foundation, granted more than $25 billion to their causes.
Yet there are others that achieve wealth and success and their lives are destroyed. The name John Belushi comes to mind. One of countless people who have made a meteoric rise to a level of success, only to see their lives crash down around them.
What is the difference between the two types of successful people?
The answer is in what they think about and how they view things. From the moment we wake up, the inner chatter of our mind starts up. It gets a bit quieter when we get fully absorbed with a creative task or mildly hypnotized with a TV show, film or computer game. Only when we fall asleep, does it go fully silent again perhaps only to bubble below the surface of our awareness in the form of dreams.
The rest of the time our mind gets involved with internal commentary about the world around us, the replay of past conversations or the rehearsal of those yet to pass.
It’s a great shame we don’t pay attention to our thoughts, as what we are thinking fundamentally affects the world around us. It’s true that you are what you think. This is not just about having a glass half empty or half full outlook.
The very nature and quality of our thoughts provides the key difference between living a charmed existence or continually finding ourselves pushing a rope uphill.
How do you begin to know what thoughts come from which source?
These simple and free steps are the keys to the first level of mind upgrade.
1. Take 10-20 minutes out for ’me time’ every day in meditation or just walking in nature.
2. Cut down on unnecessary background noise like radio or TV and perhaps substitute more positive things to feed your brain. Perhaps some self-help or motivational programs.
3. Keep a journal (or blog ) Learn to trust your gut and follow your heart.
5. Energize the left and right sides of your brain before any creative task or with things like crossword puzzles, Sudoku or other “brain teasers”
Remember, you are what you think, so mind what you’re thinking!
You are what you think, so mind what you’re thinking!
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