Published by John Hoff on 19 Aug 2008 at 09:00 pm
The Foundation Of Successful Thinking
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| What is your perception of the world you live in? Image by borzikako |
Do you do great things or do great things happen to you?
What is the foundation of successful thinking?
For me it’s the way in which we perceive and think of ourselves. I’m not talking about simply thinking happy thoughts and good things will happen, I’m talking about the level in which you perceive yourself and the world around you and your place in it.
Your mind-set and belief system will greatly influence your creativity, potential, and most likely determine your success in business.
Life sort of molds us into the person we are today. Determining factors can be such things as where you’ve been and where you live, who your friends and family are, your income level, environment, etc. The elements around us condition the way we think. And the way we think determines how well we do in business.
This conditioning many times make people think of themselves in terms of “me,” and not “I.”
Do you see the difference?
You can think of it like this: Me is a person who is acted upon; the person who believes in God because his or her parents said there is a God. They have been molded into the person they are today because of influence from others without self discovery.
When you think of yourself as “I,” you are thinking in an active subject way and not the passive, me.
This line of reasoning can be displayed by looking at simple grammar. Let’s look at the following two sentences.
- “I started a new web development company called, eVentureBiz.”
- “The new web development company, eVentureBiz, was started by me.”
Do you see the difference? The first one is active, the second is passive. In business and as an entrepreneur, you need to think in the active subject way. And this is something you need to beat into your core beliefs. In my real estate investing experience, I’ve had plenty of Realtors and contractors tell me this is what needs to be done and this is how you should do it.
But guess what? I am the entrepreneur. I am the one who knows how to turn a profit, they don’t make the profit for me.
Do you know who the real you is? Do you believe in yourself because you founded your own beliefs or were they someone else’s beliefs that you adopted? In business (and in life), are you the active subject who does things or are you the passive object things happen to?
If you’re a me, what can you do to become an I?
Like Morpheus said in the movie The Matrix, “I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.”
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Cath Lawson
on 20 Aug 2008 at 9:16 am #
Hi John - this is a great post. The “I” person is really taking responsibility for their own actions and thoughts aren’t they.
I’ve noticed a lot in tv interviews - when the person being interviewed is telling about something good they’ve done - they say “I” all the time. But, when they’re telling about something bad they will say things like - this happened to “me” and they’ll also say you a lot, as if they’re not talking about themselves at all.
You have me thinking. I’ll be paying a lot more attention to whether I’m using I or me now and asking myself why.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Relationships: Are You Kissing Goodbye To Success?
John Hoff
on 20 Aug 2008 at 9:33 am #
That’s a great example, Cath. Once you come to learn something, you see it all the time (like never noticing a type of car on the road until you buy it).
This subject was hard for me to put into words because this sort of thing is something I just do and don’t think about. I found insights by looking to active and passive grammar.
Barbara Swafford
on 22 Aug 2008 at 12:34 am #
Hi John,
So when people say, “It’s all about me”, they have it wrong. They should be saying, ” I know it’s all about me”. Yes? No?
I find myself being more of an active person. By saying “I”, we also are taking responsibility and/or credit for our actions. I remember reading that if you’re having a disagreement with someone, you should say “I feel …..,” instead of saying, “You made me feel…..”. Apparently it makes the other person feel less threatened and we put the burden on ourselves. It makes a lot of sense to me.
Wow! That’s kind of “heavy”.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Four Day Open Mic - 8/21 to 8/24/08
John Hoff
on 22 Aug 2008 at 7:35 am #
Hi Barbara. Yeah it is kinda “heavy,” isn’t it? I sat for a while trying to put into words the “idea” of this article. The phrase that kept coming to mind was, “Be confident.”
Both examples you gave above are great references to how the way in which you speak (and the way in which you think) make people feel and act differently, including yourself.
Al at 7P
on 24 Aug 2008 at 11:56 am #
I really appreciate this post. People’s choice of words reflect their subconscious, but the influence can go the other way around by actively choosing the right words to influence the subconscious.
Al at 7P’s last blog post..Why Should I Help You?
John Hoff
on 24 Aug 2008 at 3:09 pm #
Well said. I should have used your avatar for this post LOL.