By: D. A. Slinkard
Our thought process is detrimental to the quality of life we have. Whether our lives be good or whether they be bad, it all depends upon the way in which we choose our perspective. Our thought process plays an integral part in our everyday living, and your thoughts could be holding you back from living the life you so desperately desire to have. It is no secret that it is much easier to think negatively and to be negative than it is to be positive. It takes work to be a person not bogged down by the negativity of the world.
If you can control your thought process, then you can control the outcomes you get. I did not realize this aspect until later in life; and I wish I would have had someone, anyone, who could have taught me this when I was younger. In fact, I believe we do our youth injustice by not allowing them to think for themselves. When they are in a difficult situation, instead of allowing them to figure it out for themselves, we too often want to jump in to help get them to the final result. Sure, they get to where you wanted them to be, but they have no idea how or why they are where they are.
I want you to think about the last time you faced a challenge but did not know what to do. Did you give up? Just tossed your hands up in the air and walked away? Or did you try to figure the situation out? What was your thought process? I am a firm believer that too often we say to ourselves, “I cannot figure it out,” and our brain says, “Okay, you cannot figure it out,” and thus you cannot. However, instead of saying we cannot, we need to say we can.
For instance, I recently had a friend looking to buy a particular brand of car. As he was getting closer to purchase, he was noticing this brand everywhere. It seemed as if everywhere he went, this car was there. Have you ever bought something, say perhaps a specifically colored shirt or a particular brand, and then afterwards you started noticing the same item everywhere? The fact is that before you made the purchase, your brain was tuning it out, but afterwards your brain was telling you to pay attention.
Our thought process is no different. Instead of thinking you cannot figure something out, just ask yourself, “If I knew how to solve this, what would I do?” Amazingly here, your brain will allow you to find the answer. Now, this cannot be forced and, yes, I understand you can easily disprove this method; but remember, when you are trying to disprove this method your brain is doing exactly what your thought process is telling it to do. You do not want it to work, so your brain will show you why it will not succeed. But change the thought process and your brain will show you why it will succeed.
Have you ever met someone you knew you were smarter than, you knew you had more upstairs than they did, you knew you offered more than they brought to the table, yet they were further ahead in life? I guarantee you that their thought process is different than yours. The next time you face a difficult situation, instead of playing the victim you need to play the expert. Ask yourself what the expert would do and then do it. Many times, we stand around scratching our heads reaffirming our disbelief that we cannot make something happen, which if we would change the mentality around, we would be actively changing our lives.
If we want to see a change in the success/failure rate, we need to change the way we view our thoughts. Instead of the victim mentality being accepted and taught, we need to teach our youth how to be successful. We need to teach them how to think instead of trying to dumb things down for them. I have learned a lot through the school of hard knocks, but the most important thing I have learned is controlling my thought patterns. I cannot determine the obstacles that will arise in my life, but I can make the clear decision about how I will respond. The next time you are faced with a challenge, will you tell yourself you cannot, or will you allow for your thought process to show you the way?
By: D. A. Slinkard
