When is the last time you thought about what you're thinking about? Do it now!

Note: The following is an excerpt (Chapter 1) from my recently released book, 10 Foundational Elements of Intentional Transformation: How to Become Your Best Self.

THOUGHT IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHOICE

What You Think Determines What You Do

“The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought.” ~ James Allen

If you already knew what you needed to know, you would already be where you want to go. Until you change what you think, you will not change what you do.

Your conscious thoughts are real but only in your mind. Your thoughts will lead to other private thoughts and subconscious feelings or emotions. Once you act on your thoughts and feelings, they are translated to the world as choices when they begin to shape your life.

You first make your choices. Then, your choices make you.

The Choice Formula:

Thought + Emotion + Action = Choice

Thought â€“ something we are consciously aware of in our mind

Emotion â€“ something we subconsciously feel based on our thoughts

Action â€“ something we do based on our thoughts and emotions

 Your choices flow from your thoughts. The quality of the choices depends on the quality of the thoughts. There is no conscious choice without conscious thought.

Think of what your home looks like or think of your favorite car. Not only can you choose your thoughts, but as you just experienced in this simple exercise, it is very easy for others to influence your thoughts. This is where our real problems start. Far too often, we accept bad influence instead of rejecting it and using our own reasoning to positively influence our thoughts.

James Allen in his book, As a Man Thinketh, wrote, “Our mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.”

Our mind can be prepared to produce great thoughts and choices just as a freshly plowed field is made ready to produce a great crop. Our mind can also be left undeveloped or underdeveloped to produce whatever thoughts it may without any intentional development. But make no mistake, our mind will produce thoughts. Thoughts and choices will flow from our mind whether good or bad, beneficial or harmful. Sought or not, there will be thought. Thoughts will sprout from our mind as plants sprout from the earth. Abundantly.

When you garden, you are responsible for planting seeds capable of producing a great crop. Likewise, you are responsible for developing your mind to produce great thoughts and choices beneficial to you and others. Thoughts that will lead you to where you want to be.

You can take another step and work the garden continuously by watering, weeding, and fertilizing to ensure and enhance the quality of the crop. You can go farther in the development of your mind by associating with people who want to help you by choosing to remove bad habits and bad people from your life, by intentionally studying positive people, by reading positive books, and by making positive choices.

One very powerful life and death choice is self-talk, thoughts you have about yourself and others. Self-talk is far more destructive than what others say to you or about you. Why? Because you are always listening to yourself.

People take their lives every day because of their own self-talk, not what others are saying. Sometimes they are not talking to others at all. Their own thoughts have brought them to the point of feeling worthless, helpless, and most often, hopeless. They have convinced themselves there is no reason to continue living.

These people no longer have hope and have given up. When you don’t have hope, you must get it from others. You must connect with positive people, be with them, and talk with them. You must borrow their belief in you. They can and will lift you up. If the people you are around don’t lift you up, you are around the wrong people. The right people will always give you hope and lift you up.

There are endless examples of self-talk (thought) being detrimental to our well-being. You can choose your thoughts and change your thoughts. When you do, you begin to change your habits, your circumstances, and ultimately, your life.

“We imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.” ~ James Allen

Don't stop here there are 29 more chapters: Order your copy now and take your thinking to the next level and beyond!

FREE downloads available:

Click here now for a FREE download of the entire leadership principle-packed Chapter 11, "Get Out of the Way and Lead" from the first book in my Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. In this nearly 20 page chapter, I share about:

·      Managing vs Leading

·      Scarcity vs Abundance

·      Formal Authority vs Moral Authority

·      The 5 Types of Leaders

·      Compare/Contrast 17 Manager vs Leader Perspectives

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of â€œBlue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

·      Ch. 1: I’m one of you.

·      Ch.2: I believe in you.

·      Ch.3: You’re in the perfect place.

·      Ch. 4: Common sense is never enough.

·      Ch.5: There is an “I” in Team.

Note: I encourage you to be a river, not a reservoir. Please share my blogs with others if you find value in them. I believe in abundance and write them to help others become more effective, successful, and significant.

Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact !