How Do We Have Empowering Thoughts in Spite of Circumstances?

Posted in Perspective · Self Improvement |  Email This Post | by James Rick

IF THOUGHTS DETERMINE HOW WE FEEL, WHAT ROLE DO CIRCUMSTANCES PLAY?

Circumstances challenge our thinking. Our thinking is an attempt to know circumstance better – in fact, thinking is an attempt to predict future circumstance. And the illusory nature of thinking is that most of what we know about real physical laws such as gravity or motion tend to occur as we predict them to occur. For example we expect an object to fall because of gravity and it does. We predict a fast moving car will be in a certain place a few seconds later and it is. This strategy of predictive thought then enter a complex realm when we try to predict the behaviors of others. We are not only limited by our own knowledge of previous circumstances in predicting, but we are going off of limited information (limited to the extent that we know a person and can reliably predict their behavior.)

What we know as trust is faith in certain behaviors based on limited information. Essentially what we are saying is that we have limited data to make a 100% prediction over what you’ll do, and so where there is a gap in your predictable behavior we have to trust that you’ll do the right thing. To trust someone we just met is a great leap of faith. To trust someone that we have known for a long time is easier to do because there is less of a gap to overcome. Reputation becomes so important because it provides a foundation for predicting behavior. The better the reputation from trusted sources, the easier it is to trust someone we just met. For example a book written by someone with a PH.D in front of their name or a degree from Harvard or mentions from the international media or an endorsement from other trusted authors is easier to trust as a source than someone who simply wrote a book -even if the latter has much more useful information than the former.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE LET OUR THINKING RUN ON A TRACK TO PREDICT BEHAVIOR?

Many times our emotions react to our fantasies – good or bad we become victims of the outcomes in our minds that never happened. This impact doesn’t just effect ourselves – it can affect everyone around us. If we are suspicious (future projection) or disgruntled (interpretation of earlier event), these emotions are quite easily detected (both consciously and subconsciously) in our body language, our tone and words.

HOW THEN SHALL WE USE THOUGHT?

We can direct it through the use of well guided questions. We can trust our own mind to supply us with the right answers when we use the right questions. After all – we’ve been with our mind the longest. The time the mind launches off on destructive inquiries is when we let it. That means – when we are not in control of the questions being asked, we very often receive answers we don’t need or feel emotions that are unwanted.

SHOULD I BE FOCUSED ON EMPOWERING QUESTIONS ALL DAY LONG? – THAT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF WORK

Yes – thought filtering requires a lot of effort – but it’s a job that only you can do. And the alternatives are less appealing. The good news is however that through consciously asking empowering questions on a regular basis you will form a habit of asking empowering questions, making it a little easier to focus your mind in the right areas. However don’t let up – the moment you let your mind wander on its own it can go right over a cliff. In other words – disempowering questions and destructive emotions are just a thought away.

A great way to know if you’ve gone off track is through listening to your body. Emotions are an important signal to how you’ve been thinking. You can trace every emotion you are feeling now or will feel in the future to your thinking. In the words of Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence – “Emotion follows thought just as surely as ducks follow their mother.”

Of course other factors play an important role in how you’re feeling – or rather, they make it easier to feel good. Factors such as getting plenty of rest, drinking plenty of water, eating salads, exercising, etc. See if you can come up with a list of “Feel Good Factors” that are simple ways to change your mood for the better. The reason? It’s simply easier to think empowering thoughts if you feel good. Having strategies for changing your state other than through remembering to ask empowering questions will offer a double assault on negative thinking and destructive emotions.

FULL POTENTIAL ACTION STEPS:
1) Come up with at least 1 or 2 questions you could ask yourself that would help you focus your brain on empowering thoughts. For example one question I ask myself, “How do I know I’m not dreaming right now?” This moves my attention to the present and helps me get out of thinking about my circumstances to instead, questioning my reality!
2) Come up with a list of at least 5 Feel Good Factors that you could easily do to change your state and make yourself feel better.

Leave a Reply