Do we become what we think about?

Perhaps the most important discovery in the entire history of mankind, as far as human performance is concerned, is contained in the sentence: “We become what we think about most of the time.” Our outer world is largely a reflection of our inner world. The way we think and feel from within determines our attitudes, expectations, values, and therefore behavior. The main key to top performance is to understand how it came about that we think exactly the way we think and why in some situations we feel exactly the way we feel. With understanding comes openness to change.

What is exactly human potential?

The formula that most vividly depicts human potential is: (innate traits + acquired traits) x personal attitude = personal potential

1. Innate traits were given to us by nature through temperament and genetic potential
2. The acquired characteristics were given to us by the environment in which we grew up, received education and started working
3. Personal attitude is largely determined by our expectations of ourselves and others, and our expectations are based on our values and beliefs.

From all of the above, our self-perception was formed, i.e. the set of all truths and beliefs that we accepted during our lives as our truth. Self-perception is the main program of our computer, because everything we have ever seen, heard, felt and experienced in any way, is recorded in our complex mind. Our self-perception precedes and predetermines the level of efficiency and performance in everything we do.

All improvements in our lives come from improving our self-perception. The mental law of correspondence says that our outer world became a reflection of our inner world and that for all the improvements we want to make it is necessary to start with improvements from within. This is a laborious process that requires a lot of willpower because our mind tends to move along trodden paths. It tends to stay on autopilot. That is why it is best when we enter the process of change with small and everyday steps.

The power of imagination

Few people know the power of imagination. Einstein said that imagination is more powerful than facts. For that reason, the first step towards change is to initiate imagination and for that I recommend three simple but very powerful exercises:

1. Affirmations – a target positive sentence that describes what we want to become our truth. In order for the affirmation to be effective, it is necessary to follow the 3P principle:

• Personal – in the first person singular – I am, I have, I get, etc.
• Present – in the present tense – I have, I get, not I will have or I will get
• Positive – I can, I want, I wish.

2. Visualisation – is the mental image we create in our mind, which refers to what we want to become our truth. There are also 3 important principles with visualisation:

• Clear image – we need to form as clear a picture as possible in our mind
• Length of visualisation – we need to try to keep that image in our mind for as long as possible
• Frequency of visualisation – it is necessary to repeat it as often as possible

3. Emotionalisation – is triggering emotions while the previous two steps are performed. As we utter the affirmation, we need to be happy and excited. The same is true while doing visualisation.

 Thought multiplied by emotion gives our reality, the more intense the emotion, the faster the inner change will be.

What does the subconscious do?

What actually happens in our subconscious mind as we perform these three exercises?

Our subconscious cannot tell whether we created these words, images and emotions ourselves or if all this is really happening in our lives. The mental law of subconscious activity works to bring our mental images into reality and to accept them as truth.

Also, these exercises trigger three other mental laws:

1. Mental Law of Belief – triggers the inner belief that our words, images and emotions are possible and will come true.

2. Mental Law of Attraction – says that our mind is a big magnet that attracts people and circumstances into our lives that will help us make our words, images and emotions a reality.

3. Mental Law of Correspondence – works to make our outer world a reflection of our inner world.

Let me give you an example: A few years ago, there was a lawyer at our Strategic Leadership Academy, co-owner of a successful law firm. A great young man who was very active and open to work on himself during the three months of attending the Academy.

One Friday he called me and asked me to come to his office the following day because he needed urgent assistance. When I came, he told me: “When I am in the courtroom and in front of a small number of people, I never feel nervous, but when I go out in front of ten or more people, my mouth starts to dry up and my nervousness starts to take over. I got the opportunity to speak in front of 200 people at a conference on Monday, which is very important for my job because there will be a lot of potential clients there. What can I do to reduce my anxiety?”

I introduced him to three previously written exercises and we practiced that together for about 2 hours. After that, I asked him to continue with the exercises during the weekend and just before the performance.

He contacted me after the performance, surprised by the effects he had achieved on removing the nervousness in a very short time. I told him that he was not born with stage fright, but that it arose somewhere during the period of growing up and education, and that he managed to suppress it with exercises. I asked him to keep working on it, as long as he felt even a shred of trepidation. Today, he often gives lectures and participates in various panel discussions, and nervousness is his past that he no longer thinks about.

The fear of public speaking is by far at the top of the list of the most common fears of the human race.

All this can be applied to other fears that permeate us from within and block our creativity, positivity, activity and everything necessary to achieve better results.

In addition, it is necessary to infuse positive messages and influences on our brain every day. It is necessary to feed it mental protein. There are several ways to do this:

1. It is desirable to read inspiring and educational literature every day

If someone reads between 15 and 30 minutes a day, they can read between 20 and 40 books a year. I believe that a person who reads 20 to 40 books a year is more willing to tackle challenges than a person who has not done so (if they are people with similar predispositions).

2. It is advisable to listen to audio programs in the car

If someone spends 30 minutes a day in the car driving to and from work and listening to inspirational educational audio content instead of songs, that person has a mini university on wheels because they will listen to more than 130 hours of useful lectures a year.

3. It is desirable to form a productive group of people who are positive and better than ourselves in some achievements

A group of people who are not in your competitive business. The ideal group is 3 to 5 people. It is desirable to see them optimally once in 15 days for 1-1.5 hours. At the meeting, everyone presents their challenges, and the others help with solving them.

If we add up all three development options, we get 230 to 300 hours of inspirational and educational content per year that develops the personality from within.

Of course, there will always be someone who will say that he does not have the time to work on himself for many reasons. However, if we do not have time for all three options, we have time for two or at least for one. After all, people usually fall into two categories:

1. Those who want and find a way.
2. Those who do not want and find a reason.

Scientists say that the human brain needs at least 21 days to start applying something newly learned more easily, and 90 days to adopt a new habit. I have worked with many people to whom these exercises and new habits have brought improvement in business results and quality of life. What helped them most on the path to change was the fact that they believed in improvements and worked on them until they became apparent. So – believe and achieve.