The difference between these two people groups are not raw talent, ability, luck or which family they started in. The only thing that separates these people groups are the way that they think about themselves and the life that they have been given.

Ancient philosophers have disagreed with views on heaven, hell, the origin of life and various other topics that surround life however the one area they have all agreed on was that positive thoughts bring positive results and that negative thoughts yield negative results. In short we become what we think about.

The natural progression of action is that what we think about, we talk about; what we talk about, we do and what we do continually becomes our habit and our habit becomes our destiny. Every night when you are getting ready for bed you think to yourself, “I have got to brush my teeth,” and then if someone is in the room with you, you might say, “I am going to go brush my teeth.” Now hopefully most of you are in the habit of brushing your teeth on a regular basis before you go to bed which is a habit. Now based on how well you perform this habit will determine how many cavities you will acquire on the next dentist appointment. This example can be used with the weight-room, reading, relationships, and religion.

Individuals in the 5% realize the importance of thoughts and the ramifications of a negative thought process but of course that is why they are in the 5% of wealth and success and relational satisfaction. Henry Ford said, “Whether a man thinks he can or he thinks he can’t, he is right.” Proverbs says, “Whatsoever a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Einstein further articulated, “The significant problems we face in life cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that got us into the problem.”

We can create nothing which we first do not conceive in thought. From the first wheel to first airplane, the invention first came in the form of an idea. Then once that idea was spoken out loud plans began to formulate and then through steady work and effort the original thought became manifested.

But some people’s minds are like concrete; all mixed up and permanently set. Have you ever meet someone who thought they knew everything? Every time you tried to tell them about history, a band or something financial they would chime in like they not only were familiar with what you were talking about but that they knew more than you did regarding the subject? If not maybe you are that person (friendly jab).

I will say that men are especially guilty on this one. We will never admit that we are clueless about any subject. I am completely aware of this fact however; I still have to strongly fight the same desire which probably makes me a worse offender. I found myself at the mechanic shop the other day getting my oil changed when the mechanic called me over and articulated to me that getting my oil changed was the least of my problems because I also had X, Y, and Z wrong with my automobile. (I knew so much about what he was talking about that I am referring to the problems in letters, figure that one out.) As he was talking I was saying to myself, “Self, I really do not know what he is talking about.” But, then I found myself instead of asking questions, nodding my head in agreement. I then further articulated that I was going to have him check that out anyways because I heard a noise and I thought X, Y, and Z were wrong. I could not admit to know anything because after all there were other guys in the shop who could hear our conversation.

The result? I learned nothing about cars that day because I already knew everything there was to know. Remember a mind is like a parachute, it is only functional when open. We can send messages 24,000 miles around the world in less than a second but it often takes years to penetrate the last quarter inch of skull surrounding the mind. So how does the mind work actually? How does one begin to turn negative thoughts into positive ones? And what is the effect on the mind if individuals think one or the other. Well in the next couple of paragraphs we are going to explore the process.

Nothing happens to us either while we are awake or sleeping that is lost. All of our experience is stored in the mind. Some in the conscious mind but most is stored in the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is the calculating, thinking, reasoning portion of your mind. Your conscious mind has the capacity to accept or reject whatever is presented. From the memorization of facts to the calculating of mathematical equations, everything that you learn you learn via you conscious mind. Your conscious mind is responsible for causing you to agree or disagree with the content that you are now reading and whether or not you accept or reject the information is based on what you personally believe to be true. Your standard of truth comes from the information stored in your subconscious. Your subconscious mind remembers everything and acts as a storehouse of data regarding your likes and dislikes that have resulted from positive and negative experiences. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week your subconscious mind is recording everything you experience see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. This part of your mind accepts all information without question. The subconscious mind recognizes and acts upon thoughts which have been well mixed with emotion or feeling. Think back to the happiest, saddest or scariest moments of your life. When you do can see your surroundings, what you are wearing, who was with you and reenact scene by scene what happened? You and I not only can do that but we unknowingly act out of that situation when another one arises that is similar to the previous one that we experienced. Therefore, our subconscious can be both a catalyst and antagonist to the success of our future and our present. You will get no appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts and spoken words that have well emotionalized with belief. Every time one attempts to put a fact or figure to memory a small dent is made in the brain. The deeper the dent the longer you will remember. The more someone repeats the subject matter they want to memorize the dent becomes a little deeper. To increase your memory or the types of memories that you desire to act out of, mix the content with emotion. The emotion is the chisel that will create the dent that will cause you to remember.

The great news is that your subconscious does not know the difference between fact and fiction, so it will believe anything you say. If you say I have one million dollar in my checking account then your subconscious says, “Oh, really? Well, crap this guy thinks he has a million dollars in his checking account and from what I am seeing he has about ninety bucks so we better figure out a way to make up the difference.” And so the sub-conscience mind goes to work for you.

In order to put your subconscious to work for you, there are practical steps that can be taken to ensure our success. Keep a pen and an idea book with you all the time and especially when you go to bed. Ideas will come to you at sporadic times and you never know when an idea that will come to you that will be the next hula-hoop. Think about that for a minute, someone has generated for themselves and their family millions of dollars from a plastic circle. How long did that take to make? And yes he had to get the hula-hoop patented! Have you ever received an idea and thought to yourself oh I will never forget that. Well, I had one of those moments last week in church. I did not have my idea book with me and I received an idea that I just knew would generate millions. The design was simple and I knew the people who could get it done. But, I did not want to write the thought down on any piece of paper and by the time church let out I forgot. Please do me, your bank account and your future a favor, if you have the book with you or not write the idea down, you can transfer the thing later! When you do this you subconsciously add value to yourself and your thoughts. The more value you add to yourself the more ideas you get, and the more ideas that come, the more money you will make (if you act on your idea). You can mislead your subconscious mind, therefore, create your own reality. Two thirds of all medial students acquire the symptoms they are studying. Simply put, “What you think about you bring about.” Therefore, in your mind create the type of lifestyle that you desire and then dwell on that visual. As humans we default to the negative, which is the reason why only 5% of the people in this world are considered successful. Lastly, your subconscious only responds to stimuli. If you are a man reading this article consider your subconscious like a woman you are trying to court. When you desire to win a woman over chivalry is not an issue. Actions such as opening a car door, allow her to go first and so on are a natural byproduct of the inward desire you feel. Treat your subconscious with the same amount of respect and care as you would that woman because you are married to your subconscious at birth and continue in that matrimony until literally, “death do you part.” You can stimulate that greatness within yourself through activity such as reading, listening and attending motivational seminars. Liken these activities to long walks in the park while holding hands along the riverside as the night grows darker and the air is carrying a slight chill. Follow these three tips and you will notice over time that your life will become increasingly better in each of the areas where you decide to focus.