Good Wednesday morning to you. As you are reading this today, I’ve started my Road trip back to PA where I grew up. I have taken this trip by car many times, by myself and with my brother. This will be the second time I’ve taken it by motorcycle. Even though it’s a familiar trip for me, it requires a lot of planning.
Also, having made the same journey many times, I have to find a way to make it interesting. So, this time I’m staying in different places, and going out of my way a bit to visit some family. That will take a different kind planning. Last year I bought a Garmin GPS for the bike for my other trips. While planning this trip, since I’m taking different routes, I am programming the GPS to take me on some of these unknown routes. This is a challenge, something I have yet to master.
I have always looked at a paper map or online maps and just designed my route. I have an iPhone with Google maps on it, but it’s a bit different from the GPS. Trying to program the unit to take certain roads I want has been my challenge. But I need to put them in so this great device will tell me when to turn and I won’t miss the scenic routes. Programming an electronic device like this is similar to our minds. Think back to the movie “A Beautiful Mind,” when Russell Crowe tells himself that he will fight his problems without medication. He programmed his mind to think the way he wanted it to.
In our life we can control where we want to go in the same way, by telling ourselves how we are going to do it, then setting out to do what we said. It does not mean that we will not face the challenges of reality – sometimes on a daily basis. Yes there will be days you will wake up and fall back into the bad habits you’re trying to remove from your life. But the more you do it the easier it will become. It’s just like an alcoholic must tell himself “I no longer drink” or a smoker who wants to quit tells himself “I’m a non-smoker.” They still face that desire to drink, or the desire to fall back into that habit of smoking. It is an addiction and a battle to remove oneself from it.
But let’s take it away from there, to another level. I know many will read this and say “That won’t work.” Think back to yesterday and what we said about belief: you decide what you believe. So let’s say you want to become a great sales person at your job. You start programming your mind to think you are. Start by looking in the mirror and saying “I’m a great salesman or woman.” Yes, it may sound funny at first. But if you do this for a month straight you will start to believe it. Just like a computer programmer actually sat and worked out all the bugs to make this computer I’m writing on work. I’m sure it took some trial and error to find a way to get it to do what they wanted it to do.
A few years ago when we were starting X2 Investments, we put a simple Bible verse on the mirror of the bathroom. It said “If God is for us who can be against us?” It was not just for
our business but for our personal lives as well. We believed that and it stayed on the mirror until it was so programmed into our minds we moved to another verse.
Now, this is not some magic potion, a genie’s lamp you rub. This is a true system that works over time to build your mind up so it works for you to make your life better for both you and those around you. You are still going to have a challenge once you start anything that moves opposite of what you are doing now. Like a river, if you decided to change course and go upstream, it is going to be hard. After all you have been going with the flow all this time. But with persistence and repeating your positive affirmations, you can do it. You will do it.
Today I’m going to give you some more questions to make you think how you are programming your mind and what you need to change in your programming.
How often do you say something about yourself that is pulling you down?
When is the last time you called yourself a dummy, stupid, useless, a waste?
Have you ever tried to write affirmations for yourself?
If all you had to do was write on a paper who you wanted to be in five years to make it happen what would you write?
What is the most positive thing you can read each day to make you think the way you want to think?
Today I’m asking you to actually try this for 25 days. I really want to hear how it worked in your life. I talked last week about writing a positive statement about your life. If you have written that, I want you to put it on your mirror and read it every day for the next 25 days. Keep a journal with a short note each day about how it changes your life.
I’m Tim Gillette the Rocker Life Coach, now is your time to Live the life you always wanted, Love what you do and who you share your life with. Rock the world you are in, and become the RockStar in your world.
