The Secret Sauce For Loving Life
When life presents us with a circumstance, we each have a unique reaction based on our ingrained feelings about that thing.
We are constantly reacting to the feelings inside of us, and acting accordingly.
For example, if you have developed the feeling that public speaking is scary, you will avoid it because that feels better to you than taking the risk.
On the other hand, if you feel that public speaking is exhilarating, and a way to leverage your talents and influence, you will lean into it.
Even if you are super busy and stressed, you do it because being productive feels better than the alternative. Perhaps, subconsciously, being idle feels like a slippery slope to failure, poverty, and being rejected by your peers.
The point is, your feelings - conscious or unconscious - determine how you make your choices in life... unless you make a conscious decision to change them.
Try this on:
Thoughts repeated become feelings. Feelings repeated become actions. Actions repeated become results.
Thoughts → Feelings → Actions → Results
The thoughts (a.k.a. ideas, beliefs, paradigms) that you have inherited, absorbed or adopted, when crystallized, inform how you feel about the world.
And those feelings determine how you react to the situations you face.
Your inner reactions to these situations determine the outward actions you take, and your actions as a whole become your results.
We often react so automatically that we treat those feelings as part of our identity.
But your feelings are not who you are - they are as changeable as your wardrobe.
For example, the person who is terrified of speaking on stage - that is not who they are. They may be labeled as shy or not cut out for it - but is that the truth?
If they decide they don’t want to be scared of public speaking, they can change their thoughts about it, build confidence and skill, and become a person who feels good about public speaking.
Being afraid to speak on stage wasn’t part of their identity - it was just a thought that became a feeling that they acted out in the world.
To sum it up, you can decide on a new way of thinking about anything, shift the way you feel about it, and thus transform your results.
Let’s take it a step further.
Think about the type of person who would give a stranger the shirt off their back. It is generous, yes. But it also makes them feel good to serve another person, or they wouldn’t naturally react that way.
Now consider the person who is afraid of going broke, and keeps a tight grip on everything they have. It’s not very nice, but it makes them feel good to do that. Perhaps they have a deep-seated fear of losing everything and being humiliated.
What is the difference between the two people?
Both are reacting to situations and doing what feels good, but the quality of their reactions are completely different.
When you are choosing to transform your thoughts and feelings to create different results, then, the quality of your thoughts matters tremendously.
You want to feel expansive, happy and fulfilled in your life, right? Most of us wouldn’t willingly choose to live feeling constricted, fearful and closed-off all the time.
So how do you create the highest quality of thoughts and feelings that will ultimately lead you to absolutely LOVE your life?
One word: Gratitude.
This word gets tossed around so much we can take it for granted. But if you could only have one tool to transform your life, 10 times out of 10, this is it.
Gratitude is powerful because it gets you on the highest frequency of thought. You cannot help but create high-level results when this is your operating system.
You are not going to FEEL authentically grateful all the time, especially starting out.
That’s only because you’re not used to it.
Repetition is key here. It’s like a muscle. You really do have to repeat it until it does become authentic.
How to take action:
#1 Generate a feeling of Gratitude inside of you as much as possible: it feels like warmth, love, expansion, delight, wonder and awe. Try it now and notice how good this feels.
#2 Transform negative thoughts with Gratitude. When you find yourself thinking in a way that isn’t expansive and constructive, take a breath and choose a better thought. Think about a pet, grandchild, friend, experience or anyone you have only warm feelings for. Generate feelings of gratitude from thinking of that person or experience and feel the shift in the quality of your energy.
By taking control of your thinking and feeling states and choosing to operate with Gratitude as your new normal, your actions and results will naturally begin to create true mastery in your life.
You will react to the world in a way that elevates you, brings you higher-level opportunities and improves all of your relationships.
You will find yourself making healthier choices and having a sense of deep abundance and purpose, as well.
You will discover a fulfillment and underlying joy in your life that isn’t dependent on outside circumstances.
I invite you to practice with this and remember: perfection is not necessary. Even if you do this 1% more every day you can have a completely new internal experience of your life within weeks, not years.