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Abstract

u are free to choose these thoughts and how you see the world.</p><p id="b4e5"><b>The important thing is to understand how you see yourself</b>.</p><p id="17df">How you see yourself is who you are and is likely how others see you.</p><blockquote id="a8ff"><p>“Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.” Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)</p></blockquote><p id="1913">Many years ago, I had risen through the ranks to a high-level executive position, and I started wondering what, if anything, made me different from others. I was in a grocery store when the thought initially hit me. I saw a very distinguished-looking gentleman bagging groceries. He had been working there for some time. I thought to myself, put him in a suit, and by his looks and the sound of his voice, he would fit into any executive suite anywhere. Yet there he was, bagging groceries.</p><p id="f751">Before you start judging me, I was not looking down on him. I did not know a thing about his life. Also, my wife and daughter had worked in grocery stores for years. I certainly never looked down on them in the least.</p><p id="804b">All I knew about him was he had worked there for some time and was a regular worker. My thoughts were simply due to my curiosity about why some people work for minimum wage while others make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.</p><blockquote id="9808"><p>“If you realized just how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” Anonymous</p></blockquote><p id="a368">It is not about outward appearance. It could be education or lack thereof, yet I had seen many exceptions to this. Maybe it was their upbringing, not having both parents at home growing up, or something else. Maybe they simply lacked confidence or self-esteem? Yet none of these rang true.</p><p id="a6ff">My conclusion was it was in their mind. In how they thought and viewed life<b>.</b> It was in their view of themselves and others. There could be more to it than that. Yet the bottom line is everything in life starts in the mind before being manifested in the world. The words of a wise ancient Chinese philosopher suggests how this happens:</p><blockquote id="d0ff"><p>“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Lao Tzu (c. 6th century BC)</p></blockquote><p id="30c9">How you see yourself in the world determines the course of your life. When you mix in circumstances, natural abilities, intelligence, and all the other contributors, it still rests on how you see yourself.</p><p id="59be"><b>You will rise to the highest vision of yourself. </b>How high is your vision?</p><blockquote id="2791"><p>“ The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein (1879–1955)</p></blockquote><h2 id="4b0c">Uncover your thoughts</h2><p id="e893">If you wish to see your world differently than it is now, try this simple exercise:</p><p id="64ac">Grab your journal or notebook, and when you find some uninterrupted quiet time, <b>list as many descriptive words as possible</b> to each of the following questions.</p><ul><li>How do you see the world?</li><li>How do you see yourself in the world?</li><li>How are your thoughts defining you?</li><li>How are your thoughts defining your life?</li><li>How are your thoughts defining your world?</li></ul><p id="3e23">For example, your word list for the first question can contain words like harsh, pleasant, cruel, peaceful, hot, cold, wonderful, terrible

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, etc. It is okay to use the same descriptors for the various questions.</p><p id="b98f">If you can do this exercise with someone you trust, so much the better. Such activities are always more powerful when done this way.</p><blockquote id="53ac"><p>“When you look at the world in a narrow way, how narrow it seems! When you look at it in a mean way, how mean it is! When you look at it selfishly, how selfish it is! But when you look at it in a broad, generous, friendly spirit, what wonderful people you find in it.” Horace Rutledge (1877–1949)</p></blockquote><h2 id="aaa2">Final thoughts</h2><p id="78ae">You can change your thoughts if you wish. It will take some work and some time, but it is absolutely, positively possible to do. My life benefited from working on myself, and I have known and seen numerous others do it as well.</p><p id="41ce"><b>In the end, the only thing that can keep you from changing your thoughts is you. </b>If we can do it, you can do it!</p><blockquote id="ca9c"><p>“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993)</p></blockquote><p id="7e5d">What kind of future world will you create?</p><p id="b9a0"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamabbate/">LinkedIn</a> |<a href="https://twitter.com/billabbate">Twitter</a>| <a href="https://billabbate.medium.com/">Medium</a>| <a href="http://billabbate.com/">UncommonSense</a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/billabbate">AmazonAuthorPage</a> | <a href="https://parler.com/BillAbbate">Parlor</a></p><div id="0ce4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://billabbate.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Bill Abbate</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from Bill Abbate (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…</h3></div> <div><p>billabbate.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*tMx9yvzDnR947_mc)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="ae28"><a href="https://readmedium.com/d5b8d684dcbc?source=post_page-----834577ca2b4a----------------------">Bill Abbate</a> Leadership Writer and Editor in <a href="https://medium.com/illumination">ILLUMINATION</a></p><p id="1b3e">Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!</p><div id="5fdd" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/what-are-you-feeding-your-mind-2bd486a98151"> <div> <div> <h2>What Are You Feeding Your Mind?</h2> <div><h3>Put your brain on a diet</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*i-hyvir72idS98-I2sun8w.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="3144" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-best-use-of-time-and-energy-3383a77d619a"> <div> <div> <h2>The Best Use of Time and Energy</h2> <div><h3>Can you be more effective and efficient?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*z1GpYLlVNUrVHF7DK_g9cA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Inspiration and Life

What Kind of World Do You See?

How you can change your world

What do you see in your world each day? Do you see something new, unique, and exciting? Or does each day go by in a blur of insignificant, mundane activity where nothing changes in a meaningful way? Which way would you prefer it to be? Is it possible to change it?

How are your days going?

Let’s discuss our thoughts for a few moments. So long as you are alive, your brain is active. When brain activity ceases, life ends. Is the same true for your thoughts? Yes. When your thoughts stop, you no longer exist. At least in this realm. But what if you have the same old thoughts, day after day, year after year? Isn’t that similar to dying?

As muscles atrophy when you stop using them, your brain atrophies when you stop using it. If you are not purposeful, at least moving with some amount of resistance to maintain your strength, you waste away. Likewise, if you are not purposeful in using your mind to think to maintain your mental health, you waste away. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Have you ever heard the old 70s advertising slogan based on the following words?

“A Mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Authur Fletcher (1924–2005)

It was true then, it is true now, and it will always be true.

Your thoughts determine your existence while we are on this earth. That is why James Allen published his book As a Man Thinketh more than one hundred years ago. Allen’s realization that thoughts create your life came from a 3000-year-old scripture in the Bible:

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7a NASB

It is well established today that our thoughts determine the course of our life. Our thoughts literally create the world in which we live. When your thoughts remain the same, your life follows suit. When your thoughts change and grow, your life follows suit as well!

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.” Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD)

Your thoughts determine what you see

Because your thoughts create the world you live in, changing your thoughts will change your world.

In what kind of world are you living now? What do your thoughts tell you about the world? Are you living in a world where you see yourself as a victor or a victim? Are you free or oppressed? An adventurer or a hermit? Do you self-identify as a businessperson, writer, spouse, parent, child, worker-bee, leader, volunteer, or something else?

“You are not a helpless victim of your own thoughts, but rather a master of your mind.” Louise Hay (1926–2017)

You have created the world in which you live, and you are responsible for creating the person you have become and are becoming. This is because your thoughts create your world in your mind. While others may influence it, you are free to choose these thoughts and how you see the world.

The important thing is to understand how you see yourself.

How you see yourself is who you are and is likely how others see you.

“Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.” Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)

Many years ago, I had risen through the ranks to a high-level executive position, and I started wondering what, if anything, made me different from others. I was in a grocery store when the thought initially hit me. I saw a very distinguished-looking gentleman bagging groceries. He had been working there for some time. I thought to myself, put him in a suit, and by his looks and the sound of his voice, he would fit into any executive suite anywhere. Yet there he was, bagging groceries.

Before you start judging me, I was not looking down on him. I did not know a thing about his life. Also, my wife and daughter had worked in grocery stores for years. I certainly never looked down on them in the least.

All I knew about him was he had worked there for some time and was a regular worker. My thoughts were simply due to my curiosity about why some people work for minimum wage while others make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

“If you realized just how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” Anonymous

It is not about outward appearance. It could be education or lack thereof, yet I had seen many exceptions to this. Maybe it was their upbringing, not having both parents at home growing up, or something else. Maybe they simply lacked confidence or self-esteem? Yet none of these rang true.

My conclusion was it was in their mind. In how they thought and viewed life. It was in their view of themselves and others. There could be more to it than that. Yet the bottom line is everything in life starts in the mind before being manifested in the world. The words of a wise ancient Chinese philosopher suggests how this happens:

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Lao Tzu (c. 6th century BC)

How you see yourself in the world determines the course of your life. When you mix in circumstances, natural abilities, intelligence, and all the other contributors, it still rests on how you see yourself.

You will rise to the highest vision of yourself. How high is your vision?

“ The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Uncover your thoughts

If you wish to see your world differently than it is now, try this simple exercise:

Grab your journal or notebook, and when you find some uninterrupted quiet time, list as many descriptive words as possible to each of the following questions.

How do you see the world?
How do you see yourself in the world?
How are your thoughts defining you?
How are your thoughts defining your life?
How are your thoughts defining your world?

For example, your word list for the first question can contain words like harsh, pleasant, cruel, peaceful, hot, cold, wonderful, terrible, etc. It is okay to use the same descriptors for the various questions.

If you can do this exercise with someone you trust, so much the better. Such activities are always more powerful when done this way.

“When you look at the world in a narrow way, how narrow it seems! When you look at it in a mean way, how mean it is! When you look at it selfishly, how selfish it is! But when you look at it in a broad, generous, friendly spirit, what wonderful people you find in it.” Horace Rutledge (1877–1949)

Final thoughts

You can change your thoughts if you wish. It will take some work and some time, but it is absolutely, positively possible to do. My life benefited from working on myself, and I have known and seen numerous others do it as well.

In the end, the only thing that can keep you from changing your thoughts is you. If we can do it, you can do it!

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993)

What kind of future world will you create?

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!