Many battles are won or lost at the thought level

I just completed reading one of the most famous classic, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.

My teacher once told me if I want to succeed and remain successful, I must read three categories of books: Classics, Contemporary and Religious.

As a Man Thinketh is a book that espouses the power of mind in charting the destiny of our lives. Put simply every action originates in the thought. Your dominant thoughts determine your actions, which in turn determines the level of success or failure.

In business as in all other aspects of life, people win or fail at the thought level. There are countless people out there who have desire to change their lives and they know how they are held captive by daily thoughts of failure, fear and lack of confidence.

One of the greatest challenges in life is to have the right mindset free from disempowering thoughts. It calls for high level of discipline to control our mind to a level where success is possible.

James Allen likens our mind 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.’

Just like a gardener tends to their garden to keep it from weeds and by planting the desired plants, we must always keep removing negative thoughts from our minds and feeding it with good thoughts.

There are certain things that are crucial in developing a mindset for success.

First, you must hate failure with passion. Unless you hate your current situation, visualise and love the place you desire to go so much nothing will change.

If you are comfortable or you don’t mind much about where your business is, your current job or lack of it you mind will not be stimulated to think of a way out.

Secondly, you must appreciate small things as you wait or fight for big things. Martin Luther King Jr summed it up when he said, “If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Thirdly, get inspiration from others who have succeed before you. Interacting with successful people through books or personal encounter you get to know what it takes to succeed and build resilience.

If you read biographies or listen to stories of most successful people you realise they faced more challenges and difficulty situation in their journey to success than you are currently going through.

Finally, be grateful and choose to focus on the positive side of life. Remember the words of Napoleon Hill, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

Often, we focus on the negative side and fill our minds with thoughts of failure and hopelessness and fail to see the brighter part of life. When one door closes, another one opens but if you keep lamenting and staring at the closed door you lose out.