Some Thoughts About Thinking
(5 minute read; 887 words)
It is your thoughts that set off the chain of events which make life work:
Thinking → Saying → Doing → Being
These are the functions of every human life. Everybody does it, we all do, every single day; we think, we say, we do, and we be. This is how life works.
What you choose to think, say, and do ultimately determines who you will “be.“
Simply put: Your thoughts (and attitudes) produce your actions and reactions (behavior), which shape and define the content of your character which reveals your identity — who you be(come).
The Rule: Everything you say and do begins with the way you “choose” to think.
Thinking is the one thing you have absolute control over.
Actions are what you choose to say and do and reactions are what you choose to say and do in response to what someone else says or does… and what you say and do— how you “react,” in response to situations and circumstances that occur.
Thoughts are the process of thinking. Everybody does it— some better than others. “How should I think? How should I act? How should I react?” How should I? This is an ongoing self-evaluation.
Some studies suggest that the average person has thousands of thoughts running through their mind every single day.
Thoughts are cognitive, active, and ongoing. They never stop and hardly ever slow down. In fact, thinking is the full-time work of your conscious mind.
A conscious thought may be one you intentionally create or one that just seems to pop into your mind at random. The conscious mind can handle only one thought at a time and has no memory; both good things.
It takes a conscious thought and decision to produce an action or a reaction—to say or do something—cause and effect; a cause (the thought) and an effect (the action or reaction).
Habits of thought and actions repeated frequently enough become ingrained as “attitudes” which take over and short-circuit your disciplined process of thinking and behaving by automatically firing off actions and reactions, both good and bad—without even a conscious thought.
“Guard your heart, because everything you (say) and do (automatically) flows from it.” (adapted from Proverbs 4:23; emphasis added)
There are two things you can do with a thought:
- You can act on it — say it, do it, or 2. You can dismiss it — don’t say it, don’t do it; dismiss the thought before you act on it and move on to the next one. Once dismissed, that thought deleted and you move on to the next thought.
Your thoughts serve many purposes in the human mind. They are used to:
- Recognize — Thinking thoughts that ask, “What is that? Who is that?”
- Remember — Thinking thoughts that bring an image or idea from the past back into the mind.
- Reason — Thinking thoughts that apply logic, such as, “If this, then that.”
- Imagine — Thinking thoughts that form a mental picture of something not yet seen.
- Emote — Thinking thoughts that create emotions (e-motions; energy in motion; motivation; the driving force for behavior).
- Decide — Thinking thoughts that determine how to act or react.
This last function—deciding—is the most critical. It is the final step before actually saying things and doing stuff, whether good or bad. It is the pivot point that shapes all behavior: good or bad, acting or reacting, behaving or misbehaving, righteous or unrighteous actions.
Be careful which thoughts you allow to become ingrained in your heart as attitudes. Once established, they become firmly rooted and very difficult, although not impossible, to change.
Attitudes automatically trigger both good and bad behaviors, “on cue—for all to hear and see”— and without even a conscious thought. More on attitudes later in Rule #5.
Notable Thoughts About Thinking
“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts (and attitudes).”
—James Allen, As a Man Thinketh (emphasis added)
“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” (remember, it’s the way you choose to think, so you can be happy if you choose to).
—Marcus Aurelius (emphasis added)
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t… you’re right.” (you either can or your can’t, do or you don’t, will or you won’t).
—Henry Ford (emphasis added)
“He can who thinks he can and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable (impossible to stop), indisputable law.”
—Pablo Picasso
“A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can (always) choose his thoughts and attitudes in all those circumstances, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.” (so whatever happens, you always get to choose the appropriate response).
—James Allen, As a Man Thinketh / RAC
“The greatest discovery is that any human being can completely change his life by simply changing his thoughts, his attitudes and his actions.” (it is thoughts, attitudes and actions that shape who we become)
—RAC
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be “ye” transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2; “ye” from KJV)
Memorize and Use This Rule:
Rule #1 – Everything you say and do begins with the way you “choose” to think.
Take complete control over the way you choose to think and the actions and reactions they produce.
theattituderules.com 