You Are What You Think

Everything you are is determined by your thoughts. All the past experiences you have had up to this point in your life exist in your thoughts. Your entire future from this point on exists only in your thoughts. You’ve probably grown accustomed to thinking of yourself as your body. However, you are more thought than you are physical substance. Your thoughts are what define you, not the molecules and atoms that you happen to carry around with you. Your thoughts are what allow you to relate to the world and to the other people in it. Your thoughts are what control every aspect of your life.

All of your behavior results from the thoughts you think. If you are not satisfied with your behavior or your performance, then all you have to do is change your thoughts and you will change your behavior. This is what many people refer to as visualization.

Here are four basic principles from Dr. Wayne Dyer, author of You’ll See It When You Believe It, that will help to put your thoughts to work for you.


•Your actions come from your images. If you constantly picture something in your mind, you will naturally move toward that thing. Whatever you see yourself doing, you will do. Your circumstances do not determine what your life will be; they reveal the kinds of images you have chosen up until now.


•Tell yourself that everything you visualize is already here. Think about the concept that there is really no such thing as time. When you visualize something, then it already exists for you. Your job is simply to bring it from the world of thought to the world of form.


•Be willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. Trying hard is not enough. Being determined is not enough. Giving it your “best shot” is not enough. Everything that you can visualize is already waiting for you to be connected to it. Your willingness to do whatever it takes is what will make that connection.


•Realize there is no such thing as failure. You only produce results. The concept of failure is based on someone’s opinion of how you could have done. You cannot fail. It is not possible -- you always produce results. If they’re not the results you desire, then you need to go back and examine your thoughts to see why they are leading you in the wrong direction.


Visualization is so powerful because your thoughts are at the very core of your essence. In fact, you are your thoughts. To change anything in your life, all that’s needed is a change in thought and a commitment to do whatever it takes to bring that thought into being.

— Ralph Marston