Creating a Better Life

Decisions in the Moment

As I was going through my review of Simpleology 101 - The Simple Science of Getting What You Want this morning, I once again came across Lesson 12 - The Two Most Important Decisions Of Your Life.

This lesson goes over the idea of strengthening and weakening decisions (which, by the way, aren’t the two most important decisions - just examples of them). Something jumped out at me that I’ve probably read 10 times before, but never really noticed:

“A weakening decision is one that in the moment will weaken any of your sources of power.”

Which caused the following train of thought:

1. A negative thought weakens my power.
2. Dwelling on a thought is a decision.
3. Therefore, the decision to dwell on a negative thought is a weakening decision. It takes away my power.

I don’t believe that I can (yet) choose every thought that pops into my head. I can, though, choose what to do with the thoughts that come, and create a second thought that is somehow related to the first.

Outright rejection (”don’t think about that!”) usually doesn’t work. It’s usually better (and easier!) to either accept the thought and dwell on it (if it’s positive), or take the thought and ask myself “How does this serve me?” if it’s negative.

I’ve always looked at the idea of strengthening and weakening decisions as outer actions. Many of them are: to smoke or not to smoke, to walk or drive, to eat McDonald’s or the bologna sandwich I’ve brought to work.

But I’ve never thought of them from the perspective that I’ve learned is where all of the outer actions come from… inside of myself.

What thought produces what feeling which drives me to take the action that will increase or decrease my own power?

Because if we can change what’s going on inside, what’s going on outside will follow.

Sometimes, the best way to change what’s going on inside is to change what I’m doing outside: to take the action first, do the “fake it till you make it” thing.

But even when I do it that way, the taking of the action is creating new neural pathways, and showing my brain that there’s another way to go, a new way to think, if I choose to.

It’s a dance between our actions and our thoughts, each both producing and reacting to our feelings.

And we get to choose what kind of dance it is, every moment of every day.

Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude Principle Four - Accurate Thinking

The 4th success principle proposed by W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill in “Success Though a Positive Mental Attitude” is Accurate Thinking.

This one seemed pretty obvious to me. Of course we have to think accurately! Being the analytical, straight line guy that I am, I have a real problem with fuzzy thinking. I always prefer the straight line approach.

Or do I?

How many times have I read yet another self-help/personal development book, thinking “Now this one is SURE to work!”, after a half-hearted failed attempt at practicing the principles of the last one I read?

How many times have I checked, and rechecked, and rechecked the stats on this blog, and wondered why my readership hasn’t gone up? Could it be because I’m spending all of my time and energy checking my stats, and none creating something of value?

How many times have I told myself that I’m “logical, analytical, and intelligent”, while lighting a tube full of tobacco that increases my chances of contracting cancer and heart disease? Is my logic and intelligence driving me at those moments?

Those are only three of the ways that I delude myself regularly; if I spent any real time on it, I could probably come up with 25 more.

And there are probably another 25 that I’m not even aware of.

One of the biggest suggestions that authors make is that we realize that we are driven by emotion. I remember reading a Hazelden pamphlet a while back (that I’ve long since forgotten the name of) that said something along the lines of “Our thoughts direct our sails, our emotions are the winds the drive the boat.”

Anyone who thinks that they are guided by reason alone is not practicing accurate thinking.

So what do we do about this? How do we, as the authors put it, “clear the cobwebs from our mind?”

We learn to direct our thoughts.

We decide to, as Wallace Wattles says in “The Science of Getting Rich”, engage in that work from which most men shirk: the work of controlling our thinking.

None of this is easy… it takes a lot of practice. Some may “get it” faster than others, but I truly believe that anyone with at least a partially functioning nervous system can do it with practice.

Practice thinking what you want to think.

If you want to be successful, you must practice thinking like those who are successful.

If you want to be unsuccessful, practice thinking like the unsuccessful.

Direct Your Thoughts With PMA
To Control Your Emotions
And To
Ordain Your Destiny