A man walks into a tattoo parlor in San Francisco to get a tattoo. He is not sure what he wants, so he looks behind the counter and sees hundreds of tattoo designs on the wall. He can’t help but notice one that reads, “BORN TO LOSE.” He asks the foreign gentleman behind the counter, “Who would put that saying on his body?” The gentleman replied, “In mind before on body!”

Many people struggle with marriage troubles, financial difficulties, drug and alcohol abuse, or work hardships. Some have struggled for years, trying to discover the magic key that will unlock the door to success. They just can’t seem to get a consistent series of “wins” to move forward, and they can’t determine why that might be.

For years I have said that your life must follow your vision—which is true—but what creates vision? It is your thoughts. Vision and success begin with a thought—a neuron that fires a pathway in the brain for either success or failure, dependent on the type of thought. More often than not, we establish a neurological pathway that is negative and find our lives simply following that pathway.

Up until the mid-1950s, it was believed that once a child hit puberty, his or her mind was fully developed. This has proven to be false. Neuroplasticity allows your brain to rewire itself, thus changing the trajectory of your life.

It has been said that men speak 20,000 words per day while women speak 30,000. But the interesting finding is, every person will speak an average of 70,000 words to themselves each day. Every thought fires a neuron. If we repeat that thought over and over, we set up a neurological pathway that is embedded in our minds. In essence, we create a path that can be productive or unproductive based upon how many times we repeat and think that thought.

Many of you reading this article have created negative pathways related to your marriage, finances, or business that hold you hostage to positive growth. The more you travel on the same pathway, the easier and quicker it becomes to travel that same unproductive route. We hold ourselves hostage by our thoughts and our words by saying, “This marriage will never work,” “He/she just isn’t the person I married,” and“I do not see this marriage working out.”With finances, we might find ourselves repeating, “I will always be broke,” “I will never make enough money to live out my dreams,” and “The harder I work, the less I make.” In business, we may say, “My business will never come together,” “It is impossible for me to get ahead,” and “I am just not cut out to be an entrepreneur.” If you cannot control what you think, you will never be able to control what you do.

Bottom line, you need to pay attention to what you have been saying, and what you are saying, and most importantly, what you are thinking. You must DEFINE what is holding you back. What thought, what statement, what words, and DEFEAT them by establishing a new pathway with positive thoughts and words to counter the negative. “My marriage is amazing,”“My marriage gets better each day,” and “I am so fortunate to be married to my spouse.” “My finances are getting better,” “I’ll make enough money to live out my dreams,” and “My income for the next twelve months will be amazing.” “My business is growing,” “I am gaining more customers than I can handle,” and “This next twelve months will be the best revenue I have generated.”

My friends, many years ago people thought positive thinking was just hype! But science now says your life will follow your thinking; you thankfully have the ability to rewire and renew your mind.

We set deep neurological pathways in our minds through the thoughts we have and the words we speak. 

Homework:

• Define your most active, negative thoughts.
• Defeat them by replacing new, positive thoughts and words.
• Write down these new thoughts and words on paper to begin creating a new pathway.
• REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! these affirmations OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER UNTIL YOU BELIEVE THEM!

Enjoy your new life!