It's All in Your Mind

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven." John Milton - Paradise Lost

I had three huge epiphanies this past week. Two are mental and the third is practical. Here they are.

The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste. Let me steal a slogan from the UNCF. Everything you do begins in your mind. What's responsible for your success or failure? Your thoughts.

What determines what you become or accomplish? Your thoughts. What is the greatest indicator of whether you'll be happy in life? Your thoughts. Your thoughts. Your thoughts.

Thus, it's incredibly important that you (1) Pay attention to your thoughts (2) Take control of them and (3) Guide them in the direction of your goals and dreams. If not, they will take control of you and guide you in a direction totally inconsistent with your ideals; i.e, toward procrastination, fear, laziness and anything except what you really want.

The author, Steven Pressfield, calls this "The Resistance," and it rises before you every day to try and talk you out of becoming the best you. To succeed, you must fight The Resistance. You must place structures in your life to beat back this foe and free yourself to do your best work.

But it's not easy.

Last week I found that despite my best intentions and the help of my accountability partner, I needed EXTRA MOTIVATION to stay on task. That's when I reached for (in addition to spending time in Scripture and meditation) some old pals like Les Brown, Tony Robbins and Eric Thomas.

Motivational speakers!

When I felt down (sometimes for no reason at all), I would plug one of these men in my ear and I could feel my spirit lifting again, like a patient receiving oxygen or a balloon, helium.

This is no joke. You must expect Resistance, and you must prepare yourself to defeat it or prepare for failure. Either run your mind or it will run you- ragged.

There is a Great Gulf, Fixed. I borrow another phrase; this time from the Bible. There is a story of a rich man who being tormented in hell, wanted Father Abraham, to send a man who had been a beggar, Lazarus, to come down to hell and cool him off. But Abraham told him that between heaven and hell is a great gulf, fixed- a chasm that neither side can traverse.

I've been a blogger for at least ten years. I've blogged on several platforms and could probably fill a decent-sized book with my blog posts over the years. Here's the problem, though: I've been an INCONSISTENT BLOGGER. I mean that I would blog a couple times per month, and maybe not the next month ... or the next two months.

I was on. I was off. I was up. I was down. This was very confusing (and undoubtedly frustrating) to the people who actually followed me and enjoyed my writing. The naked truth is that I didn't really think of them. I was writing mostly for me. I realize now, that was a bad motive and a total losing strategy.

By working with a schedule and publishing posts when my readers tell me they are reading, I've learned (1) Organizing yourself can literally multiply your productivity 100-fold! (2) There is a GREAT GULF FIXED between consistency and inconsistency. In other words, being consistent and inconsistent is like night and day; it's not even close.

They are worlds apart.

This applies to everything that you do. The secret to success is consistency. To save money; make consistent deposits. To learn any skill; practice regularly and on schedule. To achieve greatness, you must find a way to be consistent. Inconsistency is the harbinger of defeat.

The Anchor Holds - To quote a Ray Boltz song. Now I'm three-for-three on the borrowed titles (smile). Three weeks ago I promised an update on a Big Project i am working on.

Here's the update: A BIG NOTHIN'! NADA! Yikes!

But remember what I just said, "The anchor holds." I am confident that by taking consistent action toward my goal, I will certainly get there. I can't quite remember the quote or who said it. But it goes something like this, "He who advances steadily in the direction of his dreams and goals will certainly get there."

I agree with that.

Anchor yourself in taking even small, but consistent action on your goals and you will certainly achieve them. In most instances, you will outdo yourself.

Thanks for reading my post. I'm an attorney and Christian minister. I'm also a #keynote #speaker and an author. I write about business, life and faith, focusing on how to know God's vision for your life so that you may fulfill your purpose. You may connect further with me here or by clicking below!

Wayne

PS! Please consider purchasing my new e-Book, "God Help Me I'm Stressed." Learn how to access the power of God to overcome stress and anxiety!

Wayne and Sharon

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