You Plan Your Own Failure If You Think These Three Thoughts
Take control of your thoughts always
The most powerful tool you have, your thoughts, exist in that part of your being where no one else can observe it, and I find this empowering. It helps to know that the greatest wand for changing your life is primarily left in your control; and whether you’re able to use it, or not, can be the difference between your success and failure.
Being a watchman over your treasure house (your thoughts) means you can do with it whatever you want, it is fundamental freedom no one can take from you. But if you must increase your chances of success, you must know what you want from life, align your thinking accordingly, and stay consistent with that path.
If you desire growth and unusual success, your thoughts are the nursery bed where what you desire is nurtured and made to flourish. But, by allowing dissimilar, and counterproductive thoughts override the template of thought suitable for the success you want, you disparage your efforts, and easily self-sabotage.
Here are thoughts you shouldn’t let into your mind frame if you desire to gather momentum and get ahead in life
- Reasons Why You Can’t.
- What You Like.
- Why You Haven’t Got Another’s Successes.
1. Reasons Why You Can’t:
Mathematics teaches us that a single positive and a single negative, when added together, cancels each other out, leaving zero as a remainder. Focusing on the reasons why you can’t achieve the same goal.
But why anybody will choose to focus on why they can’t instead of why they can, has a lot to do with the individual’s thinking template. Those who focus on why they can’t reason by analogy, and this is different from those who stay with thoughts of why they can —they reason from the first principle.
Reasoning By Analogy.
When you reason by analogy, you tag along with already established rules and norms, which also includes the limitations and beliefs of others, and a great deal about them may be inaccurate as it pertains to your personality or current situation.
Reasoning by analogy is the most convenient way of thinking, but it is flawed. With it, you readily put up with dogma and keep yourself from taking your chances. With it, you don't seek to understand, and you don't seek to push the boundaries of what's possible. If others say it can't be done, you buy into that opinion and come to agree it can't be done.
So much about why you think you can't get a thing done comes from assumptions and beliefs you picked up, from family, school and society. These assumptions can be regarding your capabilities or regarding what you want to do. Some of these assumptions say you are incapable, or that the task is impossible. Analogy thinking makes you take these at face value, without seeking to find out for yourself.
Reasoning From The First Principle:
Thinking by the first principle is a thinking methodology where you reverse-engineer complicated ideas, breaking them down into their most basic, constituent principles, and then reassembling them.
Reasoning by the first principle is more critical and provides a better way of understanding what’s on ground. Instead of saying, "I can’t do this, it’s too complicated", you learn to break the complex into their smaller, constituent elements, which are otherwise simpler to understand, and from which you can build up and understand the difficult.
Thinking this way, you learn to question the truth behind disempowering statements, such as that you can’t, or that the task is impossible. Thinking by the first principle enables you to reduce the 'impossible' into tiny bits, so you can equally go ahead and find out what it will cost you to get them done. This is a more practical, result-oriented way of viewing circumstances.
There’s nothing as counterproductive as focusing on why you can’t when action is required. No sprinter, in a bid to run faster, attempts to shoot himself in the foot. By adding one (what you need to do), and taking out one (wasting time thinking about why you can’t), you’re always left with a resultant zero. No movement, wasted potentials, and after time elapses —regrets.
By the time you must have gone through all the possible reasons why you can’t, and there are usually too many of them, you fan down the flames of your locomotive; and because you always get what you seek, you’ll realize you can’t. You fulfil your own prophecy.
This thinking is not worth your while.
The action doesn’t happen only when the chances of success are 100%, there’s hardly a perfect time. And nothing is too complicated that, with the right thinking and approach, you can’t understand.
Things happen regardless of opposing odds. Do what you have to by focusing on reason(s) why you can, or should; by cutting things into smaller parts and gaining a thorough understanding of how they work, and what it will take to make them work. Do this so that if there be any prophesy to be fulfilled, let it be the one where you get the things done.
2. What You Like:
It is not always about what you like.
It, on the other hand, should always be about what you need, and what is necessary. If your needs and likes intersect, fine, but if they don't, the latter is better worth your while than the former, and should dominate your thinking.
If you always think in terms of what you like, you may end up missing out on what you need.
You’ll not find it hard telling what you like. When they come your heart will leap without your consciously making it to. But the things you need, if you come to think of it, requires a little bit more effort to reveal. If you always think in terms of what you like, you may end up missing out on what you need.
At every given stage, and in every circumstance, always ask "what do I need?" Your need will vary by circumstance and time, but will always be directed towards fixing a problem you have. But what you like isn’t always aimed towards that direction.
Rest is easy, and undeniably a source of pleasure, but hard work isn’t always the delight. However, you need the work if you desire to get ahead in life. Watching TV and obsessing about social media are no brainers, they work on your pleasure system and you find it easy to like them. The same is true of procrastination and being average, they are too easy you won’t find it hard embracing them with wide-open arms.
But in the bigger picture of your life, they will be worth nothing. What's always of worth is that which matter to this bigger picture, which are the things you need, and they are what you should be on and on about.
3. Why You Haven't Got Other People's Success.
Some people are writing greater contents than you are; some are making more money than you are, and others are more in fashion, are keeping fit, and generally seem to be happier than you are. If you are to keep tabs on other people’s progress, you’ll see that many are ahead of you. We can’t sugarcoat it, many are; but, so what?
Focusing on what others have achieved will deny you the opportunity to enjoy the process of your current journey. It will drain your mental strength and studies have linked it to depression. But beyond those, it forces you to adopt numerous benchmarks for measuring your own success. And you do so in neglect of the differences that exist between your journey and that of those whose success you desire. This too is counterproductive.
There are lots of writers doing brilliantly great on Medium. These writers are crushing it based on constantly producing good writings and making real money from them. If this isn’t you, as it’s not me, living in silent envy will only ensure you underproduce.
As a newbie writer, I’m making the conscious effort to take delight in the fact that I’m getting better with each writing. Aside speed and income, I’m becoming good in this craft, and that’s the arbiter I’ve chosen to measure my success with, at least for the now.
Work hard, give it time, and allow yourself to unfold at your own pace.
You haven’t got other people’s success because, maybe, you aren’t putting the effort; or you haven’t stayed long enough in the game to attain that proficiency. Focus on these instead and stop obsessing about what others have that you don’t. Focusing on their success will not lead you to their level, it is doing the required work that will. Work hard, give it time, and allow yourself to unfold at your own pace.
Let that consume your thinking instead.
Conclusion:
Do not forget that as you make it a duty to take your mind off these things, you should equally make conscious efforts to focus them on things that are worth your while. Your mind cannot be left unoccupied, so you also need to occupy your mind with the thought templates designed for the success you want to achieve.
Instead of thinking analogically and wallow in ‘why you can’t’, focus on why you can. Think from the first principle and aim for proper understanding, thereby increasing your chances of success.
In the place of what you like, think about what you need. In your career, in your relationships, and in your personal life; focus on that which you need to attain that height you desire. And, don’t get lost thinking through the successes of others. Rather, invest your thinking on understanding and implementing the requirements.