Your mind is a garden.
Your thoughts are the seeds.
You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

Little thoughts-seeds, carefully chosen and nurtured, eventually grow into the beliefs, feelings, actions, habits, character that lead to the fruits of our destiny. Be assured that if you don’t manage your thoughts then your random unconscious thoughts & beliefs, or thoughts fed to you by others, will manage you.
Thoughts top
Little thought seeds grow into giant trees. Choose & nurture your thoughts carefully!
Though over 90% of us don’t bother, humans are blessed with the ability to train our minds to focus on beneficial thoughts. We can consciously choose what we pay attention to. This is done by mindfully watching our thoughts and then nurturing only the best, with repetition and feeling.
This is what great people have done through the ages, at least unconsciously. In fact when you carefully study the lives of impressive modern figures you find that most purposefully practice some form of daily meditation in order to increase their ability to mindfully choose their thoughts and to calmly concentrate on them.
Attitude is the way you think and feel about something, especially when this shows in the way you behave. As Viktor Frankl, holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning says, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Choosing what you think about is the one thing you can truly control even when everything else goes to hell.
Links: focus
Beliefs top
Our unconscious beliefs limit what our minds are aware of just as horse blinders limit what a horse can see. Regardless of what we consciously “want” our unconscious belief systems persistently set things up in the background to make sure that what eventually happens is what we believe will happen. This explains why many of our conscious efforts are fruitless and emphasizes the importance of developing beneficial beliefs.
Luckily unconscious beliefs can be changed by conscious thoughts and actions. If you want to start seeing more of the truth about your life then working on your unconscious beliefs is a good place to start.
Links: beliefs
Feelings top
Our brain automatically feeds to our bodies physical sensations which we call feelings. Feelings and emotions are triggered by our environment and beliefs. Feelings provide the energy that causes action.
Most actions happens automatically unless we consciously take charge of our mind to make a particular act happen. Most people habitually drift because they have been lulled into unconsciousness over the years or because it is just too much work to choose and take right action.
Links: attitude overview, attitude, happy
Actions top
Start doing controllable actions that close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Rather than just drifting and reacting begin taking charge of your mind and changing your actions, whether you feel like it or not.
Habits top
Physical habits are the result of repeated actions. Same for mental habits which result from repeated thought patterns.
Habits are great in that they make life much easier. However, problems develop when we have bad habits. Then we must make the effort to take deliberate control of our thoughts so as to repeatedly change our actions until a new habit is developed.
Links: habits
Character top
Who you are, your distinctive qualities as an individual, is the sum of your physical, mental and moral habits. A few beneficial characteristics under our conscious control would be a positive attitude, order and honesty.
Fruits top
Here are some of the personal characteristics and other fruits to ponder and visualize: peace, joy, health, harmony, positive attitude, personal value, abundance, fun, friends and freedom.
Each one of us has different mission and heart’s dream. Start thinking about yours. Who do you want to be (character) and what do you want to have (fruits). Start clarifying and visualizing them. Start planting the seeds of thought that will develop your character into one that can expect your dreams to come true.
Who you become is the most important fruit. Use your mind to become master of yourself first and secondary results will take care of themselves.
Destiny top
Since effect follows cause, your destiny and the fruits thereof are a result of your character. Rarely is there an exception in the long term even though often there is a substantial lag time.
While we cannot directly control much in this world we can directly control our conscious thoughts and our actions. It’s not what we want but what we believe and do that makes our dreams possible. This is where our focus should be: controlling the controllables and letting go and letting God handle the details.
Related Sources & Links top
- Return to Best Thought Management Ideas
- Burn Your Goals by Joshua Metcalf. p.14
- Top of Page, Category or Index Page