How Thoughts Become Reality

A man is the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. – Gandhi

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. – The Bible

There are many experts, sages, saints, poets, and gurus and countless thought processes from which we can source our opinions on what we believe and how to live our lives.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, religious affiliation, how “good” you are, how much money you have or what percentage of that you donate to charity each year, there are some inescapable truths that permeate all of humanity. 

Here, we’ll explore one of them.

This single concept is the basis of our lives and is largely – by that, I mean around 99% – responsible for the kind of life we have lived up to this point, the kind of life we are living right now, and the kind of life we will live in the future.

We become what we think about. – Earl Nightingale

For the first part of my life, I know now that I was pretty much just flailing around, struggling.  wondering things like, “Why me?”, “When am I going to catch a break?”, “I’m a good person, why do bad things always happen to me.”, just to start.

Questions like this coupled with all the other lies I would tell myself just continued to reaffirm my idea that life was hard.  I was broke, nobody understood me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

All that we are is a result of what we have thought. The mind
is everything. What we think, we become. – Buddha

Up to this point, I had never really thought much about thinking.

I didn’t consider my thoughts to be an active player in my life and I certainly didn’t understand that they could be the very root of all my problems.

Well, when I had what I consider to be my “AHA moment”, I was so excited by the possibility that I was not, in fact, a victim of circumstance but actually had the power to change my entire life by changing my stinking thinking?!?!

WOW, right?!

All that we are is a result of what we have thought. The mind
is everything. What we think, we become. – Buddha

In order to change things, I felt like I first needed to figure out how thoughts become reality.

This is what I found;

1. Thoughts, feelings, and actions are all connected

What we think about all day long directly influences the way we feel. In turn, the way we feel has a direct effect on our actions. 

If you are looking to figure out why you do the things you do, begin by taking a closer (and honest) look at the thoughts you think. 

2. Thoughts and feelings are reinforced by actions

If someone tells you that you can’t sing, initially it may not phase you at all and you just go on with your life singing away.

If that person tells you every time they see you that you can’t sing it won’t be long before you begin to wonder if what they are saying is true and begin to doubt your ability to sing.

Then, from that place of doubt and insecurity, you will naturally begin to act in ways that will reinforce your doubts and insecurities about being able to sing. 

You are chosen to sing in a community play and talk yourself out of the opportunity.

You stop sending demos to music producers. 

You take up knitting and put down music for good.

Some of you are probably thinking…”Uh-Uh…noooo…I would never let another person squash my dreams like that…tell me I can’t sing…oooh, who does he/she think they are? How rude!”

So here’s the thing.

This is exactly what we do to OURSELVES…constantly.

We’ve all heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy?

It’s a real thing!

Example:                                    A person says, “I am socially awkward.”                                                        Goes to a party and stands by the punch bowl alone, avoiding eye-contact and hoping no one tries starting a conversation. – No one speaks or even looks in their direction.  – Proves to the person that they are socially awkward.

3. Beliefs and habits are the results of reinforced thoughts and feelings 

If thoughts and feelings are consistently reinforced, they become beliefs.

If we consistently act according to what we believe (and we do) those actions become our habits.

To change any habit, first examine the driving belief, which ultimately stems from your thoughts about the subject. 

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If you THINK a certain way, it will cause you to FEEL a certain way. Those feelings will turn into BELIEFS. ACTIONS are the product of our beliefs. Act the same long enough and it becomes HABIT. Habits create REALITY.Click To Tweet

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