Change Your Life In 2018 - July Challenge: Your Thoughts Are Your Reality

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f you’re just joining in, the “Change Your Life In 2018” series is my quest to make some small changes this year.  Rather than setting easily forgotten resolutions I wanted to focus on 12 changes that would help me learn and grow as a person.  I’ve chosen to focus on one change per month so that it could not only become a more manageable goal, but I have a better chance at making these new habits as well.  I hope you’ll join me in the challenge!

We spend little time thinking about, well, what we think about.  After all, there are too many other things to reflect upon.  This means we run on auto pilot, which is all fine and dandy until our thoughts begin to guide us in the wrong direction.  The reason being, the way in which we think about ourselves and our life turns into our belief which then becomes our reality.



This can be a very good thing, provided our thoughts are positive and have us moving in the right direction.  For instance, you think you can succeed, and then you believe that you can succeed, which means your chances of succeeding are pretty darn good.  Unfortunately, if our thoughts are not positive, it will have the same result.  You think you will fail, leads to you believing you will fail, which means this will become your reality.  You will fail.  It's not that positive thoughts have some woo-woo magical fairy dust, rather, they push you to do more resulting in a much better chance of succeeding.

"When You Change The Way You Look At Things, The Things You Look At Change".

 - Dr. Wayne Dyer

I will give you an example from my own life.  The company that I worked for just prior to working for myself originally hired me into an entry level position.  I had been in management prior, so this was quite a step down, but I liked the company and decided to take it.  I had in my mind from day one that I would become the manager of the department even though there was already a manager.  So I worked as though I was the manager of the department.  Four months later, when she surprisingly gave her notice, because I had proven myself to the department director, I was offered the position of manager.  It's not to say that if I hadn't decided I would become the manager one day that the opportunity never would have presented itself, rather, my chances were much better because I had decided that this was what I would work toward.  That same process then worked for me to achieve the director position one year later.

You've likely heard many people talking about the notion that if you believe in something and feel it strongly enough that you can get the universe to shift in order to make it happen?  It's basically what happened in my example above.  I get that there's a whole lot of doubt about the validity of this.  I think often times it gets watered down a bit too much to be simplified into:  belief + feel = achieve.  Which I don't think it was intended to be.  Using the example I gave above, if I had believed I would be the department manager and then sat back on my laurels and did nothing to try and achieve it, it most likely would not have happened and I would have been cursing the universe for failing me.  When really, I would have failed myself.  Instead, look at it as, if we want something and believe we will achieve it and we couple that with feeling it while at the same time working passionately toward it, then the universe will assist us in achieving it, therefore, becoming our reality.

The good news in all of this is you get to choose your thoughts.  At times we feel we have no control over situations including our thoughts regarding it.  But we do!  We can choose, at the very least, how we respond.  This means that you can alter your perception and, therefore, change the direction of your life at any time.  It's not easy, because you are fighting against the stories you tell yourself subconsciously, but you can absolutely do it.  It's a matter of giving up self-limiting beliefs in order to reach your greatest potential.

"Your Worst Enemy Cannot Harm You As Much As Your Own Unguarded Thoughts".

- Buddha

This takes time and perseverance, and here are a few things you can do to shift your perception:

1. Become Aware - pay attention to circumstances that produce a negative emotion.  Question the origin of it and validity of your belief.  i.e. if the negative emotion is "I can't do it", why do you believe this?  Have you tried it before and failed?  If so, what could you have done differently? Did you lack confidence that time as well?
2. Replace Positive Thoughts - once you're aware of a negative emotion and you've questioned it, replace it with it's positive counterpart.  Do this regularly and often.  Write it down so it becomes visual and say it to yourself so it's verbal.  If the negative version creeps into your head, work to consciously replace it.
3. Challenge Yourself - consider stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something that feels uncomfortable.

When you believe that you create your own reality it will be empowering.  But it can also be overwhelming as it's up to you to carefully select what that reality will be.

Next month’s topic is: Take Care Of Yourself

Find the introduction to the series here: 12 Things You Can Do To Change Your Life In 2018

Find January's challenge here:  Letting Go Of Regrets

Find February's challenge here: Figure Out What To Do With Your Life

Find March's challenge here: Setting Goals & Chunking Them Down
Find April's challenge here: Change Your Routine
Find May's challenge here: Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Find June's Challenge here: Simplify Your Life & Find Your "Why"

Change Your Life In 2018 - July Challenge: Your Thoughts Are Your Realitywas originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)