Think About What You Think About

“A person’s way of doing things is the direct result of the way they think about things.” ~ Wallace Wattles from The Science of Getting Rich

It wasn’t until I became aware of my thinking that life got clear for me. Before I became aware, it was as if I was wading through muddy waters. Like the Apostle Paul mentions in one of his letters, it was like I was “seeing through a glass darkly.” And because I was seeing so murky, I was not aware that I was living a life of insanity. We know that Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Unfortunately, we do the same thing over and over and over and wonder why we get the same results. This is because in our heads, we know what we want to happen; we know what we want the outcome to look like – but for some reason, it’s not happening.

This can be extremely confusing, especially since we know what we want. But do we really? Perhaps we do, but I know that what we say we want and what we think about wanting are usually two very different things. So what shows up in our life? The thing we don’t want! Why? Because that was our dominant thought and it was the thought we put the most energy into – whether we did it consciously or not. Even if the energy we expended was negative energy, it’s still energy. The universe does not know the difference, nor care.

If we plant sweet corn or if we plant a deadly poison, the earth will give us the fruits of our labor – either the sweet corn or the deadly poison. The earth neither knows the difference nor discriminates between the two. It is the same with our thoughts. I know that it can be very difficult to become aware of what you are thinking about most of the time, as it was for me. But you know, once you do become aware, and make the decision to focus on what you think about, life will begin to fall into place.

I now saturate my mind with positive images, messages, and sounds. From the time I get up in the morning to the time I go to bed in the evening, I am listening to positive audio books, audio lessons, I read books that speak peace and prosperity and I do not allow negativity to enter in. I stopped watching the news and reading newspapers about twelve years ago because they were so negative and violent. I mainly stopped because they upset me psychically and shook my senses. But this practice has served me in more ways than this. I do know what is going on in the world – at least what I am interested in knowing. I really don’t care who sleeps with whom and which celebrity got a nip and tuck. This does not serve me nor help me to create a life on purpose.

Think about what you think about. We think approximately 60,000 thought a day and about 40,000 of them are repetitive and very likely self-abusive. Wake up to your life. It is time to stop sleepwalking and take responsibility for your own life. Get off the treadmill of insanity.

I suggest you read Wallace Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich. You can download the free e-book or get the audio. I listen to it every night as I am drifting off to sleep. I also read a passage or two every day. It has helped me tremendously with my thinking. Now, I think more consciously and more deliberately. My productivity, focus, and concentration have also improved. I no longer wander aimlessly. It’s time to get your life back on track. Yes, you may have derailed, but you don’t have to stay there. Remember, it’s your choice.

To lead is to serve,
Coach Carolyn

If those 40,000 thoughts are fear-based, then why not join my Transcending Fear Mentoring Program. It’s quick and easy to join and you can do it from the comfort of your home or office.

Younger Leaders Need Mentors

In some of the circles I travel, I am pleased to see more younger people in leadership roles, for church ministries, school activities, and even when needed in the family and home. I love when this is the norm and not merely the exception. Young people are the future; they are the ones who will lead in a bigger way in years to come. What I would love to see is more mentoring to the young.

One of the easiest ways to mentor a young person is through storytelling. Stories bond us as a people, and they are easily remembered. Stories create images and help the young one continue to use their imagination. I know that when we become adults, we seem to lose the use of that particular faculty.

When I was growing up, I took on leadership roles in my church – because church is where I had to be on Sunday, so I had to be doing something. My responsibilities were lightened tremendously by the sharing of stories. It was easy to begin with more common stories about what goes on within the families, but then it branched out to stories centered around the sabbath; and Jesus' new testament and salvation stories. This delighted me and gave me great hope. I found that this was also a great way to build community, though at the time I didn’t really understand the concept. Today, it’s one of the principles I wholly embody. I believe community building is cornerstone to creating great leaders and even great followers.

A wonderful way to contribute to the future of the young and your future as well is to devote some time mentoring a young leader in the making. Just share time and a story. You would be amazed at how you both benefit from the experience.

To lead is to serve,

Coach Carolyn

Happy 2010!

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” ~ Oprah Winfrey


Wishing you the most purposeful and prosperous New Year!


Coach Carolyn

Blessed Christmas

"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys." ~ Charles Dickens

Wishing you a most Blessed Christmas!

Coach Carolyn

A Tribute to Jim Rohn

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." ~ Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn (September 17, 1930 - December 5, 2009) was considered a "Business Philosopher". He did not claim to teach novel truths, only fundamentals - and as he was fond of saying: "There are no new fundamentals. Truth is not new, it's old. You've got to be a little suspicious of the guy who says, 'come over here, I want to show you my manufactured antiques!' No, you can't manufacture antiques." Whoever rendered service to many put himself in line for greatness – great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy. (From Wikipedia)

Anyone in the personal development sphere will have known the name of Jim Rohn. Influencing the likes of Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy, Rohn was a pioneer in the arena of thinking for a change. Though he left a legacy of books, audio and video, he will be deeply missed.

"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better." ~ Jim Rohn

To lead is to serve,

Coach Carolyn

Leadership Is Influence

"There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple and useful life." ~ Booker T. Washington

"Let him that would move the world, first move himself." ~ Socrates

"The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

To lead is to serve,

Coach Carolyn

Landing Your Thoughts

A fantastic article on your thoughts by Dr. John C. Maxwell. Enjoy!

Years ago, a friend of mine looked at me in a meeting and made a statement that I’ve never forgotten. “John,” he said, “ideas are like soap bubbles floating in the air close to jagged rocks on a windy day.”

What a vivid picture of how incredibly frail thoughts and ideas really are! Think about it. How many times during the day does a thought pop into your head that makes you stop and say, “I really need to write that down—that’s a great idea”? Now, how many of those thoughts do you actually remember and act upon? Unless you’ve made an intentional effort to record your ideas as they come, I’m guessing the first number is far greater than the second.

In my book, “Thinking for a Change”, I talk about the importance of “landing your thoughts.” I compare this process to landing an airplane. What is the first thing you do when the flight attendant announces that your plane has begun its descent? You fasten your seatbelt because you realize you could be hitting the runway hard and you don’t want to get hurt.

Now, if you were really afraid of a bumpy landing, you could beg the flight attendant not to let the pilot land the plane. But, in addition to attracting unwanted attention from airline security, that would defeat the whole point of being on the airplane, which is to get you to your final destination. So you fasten your seatbelt, grit your teeth and prepare for impact.

The same principle applies to landing a thought. Any idea that remains only an idea doesn’t make a great impact. The real power of an idea comes when it goes from abstraction to application.

And that’s where seatbelts (and perhaps some teeth-gritting) are needed. When you land a thought—either by writing it down so you can study it later or by expressing it out loud to the people around you—you’re bound to get all sorts of responses. The members of your audience (including yourself) might be receptive to your thought, but they also might be confused, skeptical, hostile or indifferent.

Such reactions aren’t reserved only for bad ideas. That’s why it’s so important to fasten your mental seatbelt before you attempt to land a thought. When an idea has potential, some part of the landing will probably be rough. But that’s OK, because this process has a way of honing, strengthening and clarifying good thoughts, thereby turning them into great ideas.

With that in mind, here are four observations about thinking that may help you hang tough when you’re trying to land a thought.

1. Thoughts never begin fully formed. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a complete idea come to me immediately. This certainly would be a more efficient way of thinking, but it simply doesn’t work that way.

2. Thoughts take time and others to reach their potential. Notice I didn’t say it takes time or others to develop a thought. It takes both. Thought maturation works best when it occurs over time and with input from other informed, thinking people.

3. Thoughts are very fragile in the beginning. The quote from my friend says it all.

4. Thoughts only reach their full potential in a healthy environment. In this kind of setting, criticism is constructive, not destructive. Hard questions are asked to clarify and define an idea, not to attack it or tear it apart. Thoughts may be challenged, but the overall atmosphere is positive, not negative.

Even if you’re completely prepared for bumpy thought landings, there will always be times when your thoughts crash and burn on impact. In other words, they fail to survive the landing process.

Here are two reasons why.

1. They’re not good thoughts. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea. I grab the pen and writing pad that I keep by my bed and jot it down, certain that in the morning, I’ll be able to lift the thought to a whole new level. But when I look at what I wrote the next day, all that comes to mind is, “What a stupid thought! What was I thinking?” These thoughts fail because they’re just not good.

2. An unhealthy environment. I just stated that thoughts only reach their full potential in a healthy environment. So it only makes sense that an unhealthy setting—marked by negativity, excuses, and excess stress and busyness—would be detrimental to good thinking.
Begin to think of your thoughts as delicate soap bubbles—full of possibility yet always in danger of evaporating—and handle them accordingly.

John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold over 16 million books. His organizations have trained more than 2 million leaders worldwide.

To lead is to serve,
Coach Carolyn