Expand your thinking

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thinking” Benjamin Disraeli.

What the former British Prime Minister said was simple and profound. If our outer lives are a reflection of our inner lives, then, it makes sense that we pay attention to our interior – our thoughts.

If you think small thoughts, most probably you will have a small life. If you think big thoughts, you will most probably live or have a mega life. In other words, your thinking determines your pace and results.

In addition, most people seem to be drawn to those with grand thoughts. At least the quality people do. I know that you do too, correct? You better nod to confirm before I move on. Good. Oh, great thoughts also make you feel better and inspired. You feel more expansive.

What have you been thinking lately? Are they great thoughts? Are they really higher thoughts? But how can you start or keep thinking great thoughts?

Great reads Pay attention to what you are reading. If you are just reading gossip, you will remain a gossip thinker. If you are reading junk, then, that’s what you will fill your mind with. Find great books, magazines, articles, journals that will lift your mind to a higher level. In the process, such quality will rub off you in due course and you will be happier.

Travel I haven’t travelled in a while and I can tell the difference. Why? Because whenever I travel I am bound to find a new idea, a new culture, and a new angle about life that is uplifting. Travel as much as possible because when you are in motion on the outside, the inside has no choice but to travel too. Travel often and you will find yourself thinking often.

Great thinker Find people who think greater thoughts than you do and figure out excuses to be near them. If you hang around them, you will never be the same again. Do not get surprised if you find yourself using their vocabulary and mannerisms. That’s the beauty. The reverse is true. If you hang around individuals with the wrong thought patterns, you will follow suit. So, it’s up to you to make the choice.

Create time to think Just the same way you create time to bathe in order to have a cleaner body, you should consciously plan to have some time to think in order to have a cleaner mind.

Call it a greater mind. Because success in never accidental, then, you have to consciously create the right conditions for success. Therefore for successful thinking, create the time to think the kind of life and world you want to create.

All this may not be news to you, but I have a question…do you practice the same ideas? Because knowing is not enough. You must do. Hence a reminder for you and I. May you keep on the road of higher thoughts.

Ethan is the CEO of Success Africa, a motivational speaker, author and HR consultant. E-mail:ethan@success-Africa.com