Success Begins in the Mind

POW’s during World War II lived in some of the most unbearable living conditions imaginable. Those who survived the Bataan Death March were among the most ill treated people on the earth. In his biography, Russell A. Grockett, Sr. tells of some of these horrible circumstances. He was on the Bataan Death March from April 1942 until August of 1945. During that time he faced starvation numerous times, often times having to eat food that virtually no one alive today would consider eating. He also survived beatings at the hands of his Japanese captors as well as facing the dangers of cholera, dysentery, and other illnesses.

It is amazing to think that someone had the ability to watch over one hundred people die every day, and still maintain some level of sanity. How did he and the other 4,000 who survived the march do it? They maintained some amount of hope…they had hope for a better time and a better place. After time, it has been assumed; their minds became conditioned to accept that better time and place; and that made the horrible present bearable.
Understanding that the mind controls everything will help you to control the outcome of any event by simply controlling the thought. “There is nothing good nor bad, but thinking makes it so”. This same practice can be applied into the lives of everyday people. Often, when a person is in a rut the most effective way to break free is by some positive, forward thinking. Some people have found that if they wake up every morning and say, “It’s a great morning, and It’s going to be a great day.” They will find themselves naturally gravitating toward their dominant thoughts. That is forward thinking. That is positive attitude. That shows just how success can begin in the mind.
If you understand the mind you will be able to control it. If you can control it you decide what type of thoughts come and go and what thoughts stay. If you become what you think about, them simply think about what you want to become. If you have a desire to be the best sales professional in your company, then picture yourself having already achieved it. We always act in a manner consistent with our beliefs. It has been said, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” If you continue with your current frame of thinking, you will continue in your current direction of travel.

What is meant by this is; you become what you think about. If you maintain positive thoughts you will become a positive person, and positive people will want to be around you. Have you ever known a successful person that had a bad attitude? I never have, if a person has a bad attitude they will not become successful.
Self-image or self-concept is one of the most important concepts when it comes to ones earning potential. People will never accomplish much more or less then they believe they can. Our minds look for a degree of stability or balance in all aspects of life. If we become unbalanced from what our self-concept perceives, we will do things to bring us back into balance.

A person will be unable to earn an amount of money that is unrealistic to his or her self-concept. I have known many people that had huge opportunities for growth, they did not believe they had the ability for such growth and they failed. I have known other people with less opportunity accomplish greater heights due to an elevated self-esteem. What is self-esteem? I believe it to be how you feel about yourself. I believe the more you like yourself the higher your self-esteem will be. When you like yourself, you become a like-able person; people that are similar will be attracted to you. Once again, you will be given the opportunity to be blessed with the law of synergy.

It is vital that you have a positive self-image, you need to believe in yourself; you need to understand there is nothing you can’t accomplish if you only put your mind to it. Wake up every morning and tell yourself you are successful! If you hear something enough you will start to believe it; once you believe it you will become it.
To illustrate this point further I was speaking to a counselor about why some people do the things they do. The counselor explained to me just how powerful this concept of balance within your self-image could be. People that are raised with a particular set of values have a self-image to parallel their values or goals. Their mind desires to have a degree of balance or to simply live in harmony with its values. If an individual believes one thing and continually does something in contrast to their beliefs they can become imbalanced. Their brain has a difficult time bringing itself into harmony. The brain will even go as far as to create two totally separate identities in order to balance the differences.
With the mind so dependent on it’s balance it will not allow you to achieve more than your self-image thinks your capable of. The only way you can overcome this is to elevate your self-worth, know you are created for something better than you have now. Know that you can have anything you desire you just have to convince your mind it is achievable. Once your mind believes it and its part of your self-concept you will have no problem accomplishing it.