Master your mind
The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of everything else to which he is justly entitled. -Andrew Carnegie
Humans are unique for many reasons, but one of the most noticeable differences between us and other species is that we have the brains that we do. Out of our minds, we create systems, technologies, careers, companies, etc. No other species on this planet — at least that we know of — is able to do this, and yet far too many people give away their power and capitulate to whatever circumstance that may be before them.
The most powerful people in the world are powerful because they’ve decided to take hold of their minds, and to direct it towards a specific desired end, regardless of whatever obstacles come in their way. I think it’s very easy to get sucked up into the daily minutiae of life, but when you have a dream, it pushes you to keep going, even when the going gets tough — and it always does.
If you think about it, the media, as well as our schooling, have a major effect on what we each think of our own capabilities. If we are constantly being told that we can’t do something, or that no one has ever done something before, we can easily get discouraged and settle for doing something in our lives that’s considered safe. When you do something safe, you don’t ruffle too many feathers, and people can mostly understand where you are in life, so you’ll likely end up having a lot of friends and live a middle-class lifestyle. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that; all I’m saying is that there could be so much more if you would only choose to think differently.
One of my favorite books to read is The Master Key to Riches by Napoleon Hill, and every few months I revisit it, as a means to remind myself of just how powerful my mind is. When you’re trying to change your life, it’s generally going to take some time, so you’ll have to be patient with yourself, and not allow the naysayers to get to you. When you seek to do something that no one around you has ever done, you’re going to be met with difficulties that no one around you has ever dealt with. In order to stay on task, you have to first know what the task or purpose is that you want to complete, and sign a non-void contract with yourself, committing to the journey. “Nothing great has ever been achieved without the power of concentration.”¹That being said, you must be prepared to commit, else you will quit.
In thinking about just how powerful the mind is, it behooves me to think that quite possibly, there are people out there who seek to control the minds of others, as a means to get people to do what they want them to do, without physical force. It makes me think twice about much of the messaging that we see today in our daily lives, and why it seems that so much of it is focused on putting people in a state of fear.
Under the emotion of fear the physical senses often create monstrous “ghosts” which have no existence except in the faculty of the imagination, and there is no fact of life which they will not and do not exaggerate or distort when fear prevails.¹
With all the fear-mongering these days, have you ever considered that maybe there’s a reason for it… maybe there are some people who don’t want humanity to awaken to its true potential, which is locked within the discipline of one’s thoughts?
Self-discipline is attained by the control of thought habits. And the term “self-discipline” has reference only to the power of thought, because all discipline of self must take place in the mind, although its effects may deal with the functions of the physical body. You are where you are and what you are because of your habits of thought! Your thought habits are subject to your control!¹
When I first heard this, I was a little frustrated, because it was hard for me to imagine that I was the one who was creating my circumstances, on the basis of my own thought habits. People don’t like to be told that they are the issue-and especially in a culture that seems to glorify victimization. If you don’t like your circumstances or how you feel about yourself, all you have to do is make a concentrated effort to change the thoughts that you are thinking, and slowly but surely, your life will change to reflect the new perception that you have of yourself.
You can make your thought habits to order and they will carry you to the attainment of any desired goal within your reach. Or you can allow the uncontrollable circumstances of your life to make your thought habits for you and they will carry you irresistibly into the failure side of the great River of Life.¹
If you focus on disease and poverty, for example, you will attract those circumstances to you without a shadow of a doubt. This is why it’s extremely important that you keep a watchful eye over the type of content that you ingest, because it always has an effect, even if you’re not consciously aware of what that effect is. I think it’s safe to say that if you’re constantly watching doom and gloom, then your mind is more likely to be in a state of fear, rather than that of faith.
And yet, despite all this astounding power of the mind the great majority of the people make no attempt to take control of their minds and they suffer themselves to become cowed by fears or difficulties which do not exist save in their own imaginations. The arch enemy of mankind is fear!¹
When you choose to take the easy way out and let the circumstances of the world dictate how you feel about yourself, others, and the world in general, you open the door to letting your fears run the show, and as Hill said, life rides you, rather than you riding life. In order to be a healthy human being, you must make it your aim to think healthy thoughts, and to put yourself in that coveted mind state of faith, where no obstacle is ever a death sentence. We all know that we won’t make it out of here alive, so why have a fear of the inevitable? The best thing we can all do is focus on how we can individually live our best lives and cooperate with our neighbors while being mindful that things do happen, and it’s about how we respond to them more than anything, that makes the difference.
Things get better only when we’ve conditioned our minds to have faith — not fear — that things get better. The moment that you capitulate to whatever uncomfortable experiences you may be having is the moment that you’ve given up your own power. People are truly suffering because they don’t know how powerful they are. As it says in the Bible:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God,I also will forget your children. — Hosea 4:6 NKJV
With that in mind, master your mind, or pay the consequences.
¹Hill, Napoleon. The Master-Key to Riches. Willing Publishing Company, 2018.
Originally published at https://cultured.substack.com.
