Brian Tracy argues your thoughts directly shape your emotions, health, and outcomes. You control what you think about, who you spend time with, and what you consume. The exercise: practice dwelling on constructive thoughts instead of destructive ones.
Did you know that the way you think determines everything that happens to you, and this is completely under your control. Your thoughts are extremely powerful. They can lower your blood pressure or raise it. You can affect your pulse rate and your respiratory rate. Your thoughts can affect your digestion. And if your thoughts are strong enough, they can even make you sick or healthy. Your thoughts tend to trigger images in your mind and then feelings in your body that are consistent with those images. When you think or read happy, healthy thoughts, you will have a happy, healthy picture and experience happy, healthy emotions. Every part of your mind is connected to every single part of your body in a complex web of messages and impulses that affect everything that you think, feel, say and do. Only you can think your thoughts. Only you can decide what you dwell upon. Only you can decide what you read and listen to, who you associate with, and the conversations you engage in. Therefore, you are a totally responsible person for your thinking, feeling and actions and for everything that happens to you as a result. Perhaps the most important part of mental control involves your happiness and your peace of mind. There seems to be a direct relationship between accepting responsibility for the thoughts you think on the one hand, and happiness on the other. The key to happiness is having a sense of control over what's going on in your life. The more that you feel that you are in control, the happier you will be. There's a direct relationship between responsibility and control. The more responsibility you take in your life and work, the greater sense of control you have, and the happier you are. The more responsibility you take on, the more power, authority, and respect you will receive. The more you accept responsibility for getting results in the areas that your boss considers most important, the more valuable and indispensable you become in your organization. The most respected people in any company are those who accept responsibility and are the most capable of getting the most important jobs done on schedule. Now, here's an exercise for you. Identify the most positive, constructive thoughts that you could think most of the time. To improve your attitude, personality, and your ability to get along well with other people. Resolve from now on to think about those thoughts all day long. In the next motivational moment, you will learn the key to personal freedom.
