The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

October 31To Think Is to Act

Why should we be cowed by the name of Action? ’Tis a trick of the senses,—no more. We know that the ancestor of every action is a thought.

Ralph Waldo Emerson—“Spiritual Laws” (1841)

Emerson continues in his essay to put an even finer point on this: “To think is to act.”

Not much of a leap here, then, to suggest that your thoughts control your eventual destiny.

So be careful what you think. (It's kind of like you're carrying around a loaded gun all day.)

Our thoughts can motivate us to do things we once thought were beyond our ability. Our thoughts can lift and change the trajectory of someone's future.

Our thoughts can also reinforce the myth of our life.

This might be the point to suggest that we can also freely change our thoughts and, in doing so, impact our words, actions, habits, personality, and destiny any time we choose.

The only thoughts we control are our own, and that's a great place to start and end. This is where we often get bumped off course—trying to change the world around us.

Wayne Dyer, author of numerous self-development books, offers the following advice: “Never underestimate your power to change yourself; never overestimate your power to change others.”

At the end of each day, you might find it helpful to take stock and see how many little, seemingly insignificant things went extremely well. The first step to creating thoughts that create positive action is to appreciate how great we've got it on the whole. (Oh, and meditate.) ...