Are You a Victim of Circumstances or 
a Victim of Your Own Thinking?

Your inner world has a tremendous impact on your circumstances. Your beliefs affect your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Your actions ultimately create your life. Interestingly, many of your beliefs are unfounded, and your thoughts and emotions are largely habitual. Changing any of these internal components will affect the results you experience.

Fortunately, your inner world is under your control, though making changes can be challenging.

Change Your Mind and Your Life will Follow

1. Start and end your day by experiencing gratitude. It's easy to focus on what you don't have. Instead, spend a few minutes in the morning and before bed to list your blessings.

   * By focusing on the positive, you'll brighten your mood and increase the number of good things that come into your life.

2. Focus on solutions. It's a mistake to spend your time focusing on your problems. It makes you feel terrible and hopeless. It also fails to rectify the challenge you're facing. When something is going wrong in your life, switch to solution-finding mode.

   * What can you do to make a positive change? You have far more options than you realize.

3. Take care of your body. One of the common causes of depression has been found to be undiagnosed heart disease. When your body is out of sorts, it skews the way you interpret the world. We are guided by our feelings, and when our health is compromised, our emotions can be misleading.

4. Stay grounded in reality. Most of us live in a fantasyland. We're thinking about the past or speculating on the future. However, if you concentrate on living wisely and well in the present moment, the future will bring the joy you hope for.

   * Remember that life is whizzing 24/7. The actions you take right now determine your future. You can't act today if your mind is elsewhere.

5. Use positive affirmations. Give yourself the gift of positive thoughts and uplifting self-talk throughout the day. Negative thoughts lead to negative emotions. Positive thoughts will fill you with positive emotions. With positive thoughts, you can change your world.

6. Examine your beliefs. Make a list of the beliefs that are holding you back and then question them. Where did you get this belief? Why do you believe it's accurate? Is there a possibility that this belief is false? How much evidence do you really have in support of this belief?

7. Track your thoughts. Set an alarm, perhaps on your smartphone, to notify you each hour. Consider how you've used your mind over the previous 60 minutes when the alarm sounds.

   * What did you think about it? Was your attention focused on your work, or did you worry about the cable bill? Did you use your mind to better your future?

   * What did you think about it? Was your attention focused on your work, or did you worry about the cable bill? Did you use your mind to better your future?

8. Learn to meditate. Meditation has many physical and mental benefits. It can reduce stress, strengthen your health, help to strip away your erroneous beliefs, and bring you clarity and focus. Meditation is one action that can have a huge, positive effect on your life. Incorporate time for meditation into your schedule each day.

Most of us believe we're victims of our circumstances, but we're actually victims of our own thinking. No matter how bad your situation might be, someone has started with an even worse situation and led an incredible life. Changing your inner world is the key to changing your outer world.

Please share your thoughts and any response you may have in the form below.

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