“A person cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances”
(James Allen, As A Man Thinketh)
In Pam Golden’s book Choose the Happiness Habit, she writes a good illustration for this quote: “Take the story of two brothers who are twins. One grows up to be an alcoholic bum. The other becomes an extremely successful businessman. When the alcoholic is asked why he became a drunk, he replies, ‘My father was a drunk.’ When the successful businessman is asked why he became successful, he says, ‘My father was a drunk.’ Same background. Same upbringing. Very different choice.” The brothers chose different thoughts about the identical experience. Those thoughts over the years shaped the circumstances they now find themselves in. The successful brother chose to view his negative upbringing as a positive motivation to be a better man than his father. He chose his thoughts rightly “and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.”
Bob Proctor, author, and motivational speaker, says, “You’re either living in the problem or you’re living in the solution.” Whenever I’m in negative circumstances, I try my best to view them from a positive perspective first. In my mind, I thought: if this is a problem, then I can solve it; if I can’t solve it, then it’s a fact of life. If I can solve it, no matter how hard and long it will be, it will be solved. Then, I shouldn’t worry about it. If it’s a fact of life, I can’t do anything about it, so might as well, it is useless for me to worry about it. There are two empowering thoughts whenever you face a bad circumstance: #1 Be In A Problem-Solving Mode. List down ideas that might be a solution and don’t delay, take action, and #2 Activate Your Learning Mode. Never be so caught up in solving the problem that you missed the lessons. Focus on the possible lessons you might learn from the circumstance.
George Bernard Shaw has this great saying: “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them” …Think about it!
THINK BIG. START
SMALL. GO DEEP.
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