Wise Words and the 5 Steps to Using Them

The 20th century philosopher Williams James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” And James Allen, in his book As a Man Thinketh, said, “The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.”

Mahatma Gandhi pretty much said the same thing, when he said, “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end up really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity even if I may not have it all at the beginning.”

These are all great ideas of what the mind can do for you, but just what is the best way to go about directing your mind and your thoughts that will bring big changes in your life? Again, great wisdom, and the 5 steps that can make this wisdom work for all of us, comes from my good friend, Paul J. Meyer. Here are those 5 steps that he gives in his booklet, “Self-Talk, Self-Affirmation, & Self-Suggestion”, on how to get what you want and be what you want to be.

1. Decide what you want to change. Before you write an affirmation ask yourself, “What do I really want?”
2. Create the affirmations that you need and, remember, they must be a positive, specific, declaration or statement about yourself, in the first person (I), in the present tense (I am), and about what you want to be, to do, to have, etc.
3. Write you affirmations down on paper. This one is a big one for me inasmuch as when I write it down, it begins to control me and push me to do it.
4. Visualize your affirmations as your current reality. When you can mentally see yourself already doing or being whatever you affirm, you are already on the road to success.
5. Repeat your affirmations over and over.

If you begin following these 5 steps, I think you will be very pleased with the results! And after seeing how effective they can be, it won’t be hard to keep it up either.