And the cool thing is that you carry this with you every waking moment. In fact, you’re using it all the time, even when you don’t realize it.
It’s your ability to think.
And in particular – it’s your ability to be AWARE of your thoughts. To notice them, study them, to learn about them and change them.
This is one of the strongest resources you have when it comes to coping with fear, to dealing with doubts.
And to reaching success in your business.
Remember that saying we used to have as kids? The one we’d use to beat back bullies on the play ground?
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me…”
We did our best to believe that was true – even when our feelings told us otherwise.
But today we know, without a doubt, that words, in fact, DO have power.
Enormous power.
In fact, not only can they hurt – but they can also heal.
And nowhere is this more powerful than in the impact of our own thoughts.
What I’m talking about here is WAY more than the power of positive thinking. This is not just putting on a happy face and pretending all is well.
Through the science of quantum physics, we now know that thought actually has the power to move molecules, to effect the very behavior of matter and energy.
And that means that our own thoughts have the power to impact our reality.
Literally.
So how we think, matters.
What we think – matters.
This is, in fact, your SuperPower.
Think about this, for example.
How often has someone called, and you answered with surprise, saying, “I was just thinking about you!” – because you were.
Or how often have you had something show up in your life, something you really wanted, right when you least expected it?
True story. I have a print hanging in my office that I first saw in Dallas, Texas years ago. It’s a favorite of mine, a particularly beautiful close-up portrait of a wolf.
Although it was love at first sight, I didn’t buy it. It was more than I could afford at the time and I just couldn’t justify the expense.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. A very real part of me regretted letting it go, and in fact – I never forgot that print.
Two years later, I stumbled on the exact same print again – only this time, it was in my home town.
And this time, it was on clearance. :)
Coincidence? Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
But this is the tricky part.
MOST of our thoughts are just habitual responses to what happens around us.
We rarely even notice them, as they run through our heads like so much background noise.
Like breathing.
As you go about your day, you don’t even think about breathing, do you?
That is – until you have to get up another flight of stairs. Or run after a toddler. Or hurry to get into the bank before they close.
And like breathing, we barely think about our thoughts, either.
But what if I told you, that I could read your thoughts?
You’d get really nervous, wouldn’t you?
And – you’d pay more attention to what you think. :)
But if I could, indeed, read your mind, most of what I’d find would be a constant stream of negative self talk.
Because I know you, and I know how easy it is for you to go there.
When you’re facing a challenge in your life or your business, far too often, you’ll find your thoughts along these lines.
That was stupid. What was I thinking, even trying something like this?
What if I’m charging too much? or too little?
What if I make them mad? Or let them down?
Sometimes, actually, the thoughts are more about success…
What if this works? What if they DO want this, and I can’t deliver it?
What if I get more business than I can handle?
What if this wears me out and I can’t keep up?
And so it goes, until you’re overwhelmed with What-If’s, Uh-Oh’s and Oh-No’s.
It’s endless. It’s exhausting. It’s ineffective.
And it’s a total waste of your very precious and powerful energy.
But here’s the GOOD NEWS.
If your thoughts have the power to pull you down, they have just as much power to lift you up.
Here are 3 things you can do to protect, and enhance, that SuperPower of yours.
1. DECIDE ALREADY.
The simple act of making a decision, almost any decision, pulls you forward.
Like punching the gas in your car to pull you out of a tight curve, making a decision pulls you forward and into the straight stretch, shooting energy into your thought stream as you go.
2. MANAGE YOUR ENERGY.
Wild emotional swings from confidence to crisis are completely normal for entrepreneurs, because we tend to be natural risk takers.
So you will often find yourself swinging from being 100% sure of something…
To 100% terrified of it.
That’s okay.
But you can manage those mood swings by focusing on what you’re doing right, not every thing that goes wrong.
Once a week, make a list of everything you’ve accomplished that week. Money you’ve earned. New opportunities you’ve attracted. Small steps forward you’ve made in your business. Notice the lift in your mood as you do.
Then, at the end of the month, go back and look at those lists.
You’ll be amazed – and encouraged.
3. WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE
One of the most powerful things you can do is learn to recognize your triggers. That is, notice what kinds of events or situations send your thoughts into a downward spiral.
Then consciously choose to expand – or shift – your thinking.
Here’s a little exercise for you.
Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper. On the left side, make a list of your most common limiting thoughts.
(I’m not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, savvy enough…)
Then write the exact opposite on the right side, and read that list out loud.
For example. On the left side of the paper, you might write this:
“I can’t ___________ (put up a website, write a blog, open a store, rebrand my business).”
Then, on the right, you might replace that with:
“I haven’t learned how to ___________, YET.”
Retrain your brain to focus on success and good things will follow.
No cape required.
Photo Credit: Becca Bond Photography on Flickr