You have to have been living under a stone not to have come across the self- help concept of your thoughts having the power to create your world that was popularised by Rhonda Byrne and her million selling title: The Secret. There is profound truth in this concept but also a serious problem. Has positive thinking ever truly worked for you?
Have you repeated your affirmations and decluttered all that negative thinking and sent cosmic orders out into the universe but your life hasn’t improved or changed? Be honest now, has this lack of progress made you question whether positive thinking really works?
I have often questioned the power of my thoughts to change my life until I had an ‘ah ha’ moment and understood what the problem was. The solution was so obvious and so simple but I just hadn’t made the connection. Let’s explain:
The missing link.
A few years ago I watched an intriguing mind game experiment on TV hosted by the ingenious Derren Brown. A group of people were told the doors in the room they were all in would only be unlocked when certain clues were deciphered. The experiment began and everybody in the room focused all their intention on solving the clues – number sequences, flashing lights and so on – but to no avail. When the allotted time for the experiment ended an announcement was made. Every ‘door unlocking’ clue that had been given during the experiment was totally meaningless and unsolvable. The doors had been unlocked within moments of the experiment starting. Nobody in the room had thought of checking to see if the doors were actually locked. They just assumed they were. The whole time anyone in that room could simply have opened the door and walked out at any time!
In brief, that is the point I’m making here. There is an astonishingly simple way to change our lives for the better but most of us haven’t paid attention to it because it is so glaringly obvious. We assume life is outside our control, or we can transform it by changing our thoughts but by far the simplest and most effective way to change it for the better is to take action, even if that action is a simple as checking to see if a door is actually locked and not assuming it is.
Most of us do understand the importance of positive thinking and the principle of like attacks like. We try to monitor that voice in our head and transform negative into positive but in reality it doesn’t really matter how positive your thoughts are if that positivity doesn’t impact your daily routines. It is what you actually do with your life, not what you think about your life that is transformative. Yes, our thoughts create our reality and there is an invisible power in the universe you can tap into with your thoughts to heal and prosper. Understanding this fundamental spiritual concept is, however, only one half of the attract success into your life equation. The other half is just as important but neglected because it is so obvious. The missing link here is what you DO. Your daily actions need to be as life affirming as your thoughts. What you do needs to reflect what you think. Your actions need to send out the right signals and attract good things into your life in the same way your thoughts do.
Take action.
We think our future is shaped by big events, decisions we make, thoughts we have, the opinions of others but your daily actions are the golden key. Pay close attention to what you actually do every day and see your life transform. Recent research from Queen’s University shows that your brain is led by your actions so perhaps your daily routines should be the first place you start because if your daily actions are positive then your thoughts will follow. Remember, you are what you think isn’t the full story, you also are what you repeatedly do.
To truly change your life you need to change your daily actions. In this way you show the universe both with your thoughts and your actions that you mean business. It knows exactly what you want because your daily actions aren’t contradicting your positive thoughts anymore. You are thinking, and dreaming but also living and breathing infinite possibility. You are a 24/7 magnet for success and happiness.
The power of ritual.
Repeatedly taking positive action is the starting point. If an action is repeated often enough it becomes a habit BUT establishing positive habits isn’t enough because habits, even positive ones, can’t change your life in the long term. To attract lasting love, success and happiness research also shows that your daily actions need to be filled with positive intention or a sense of sacred personal meaning and power.
In other words, they need to be ritualised.
That is why I decided to write a book called 21 Life Changing Rituals. To create the book I devised a daily plan of seven life affirming morning, afternoon and evening rituals designed to attract good things – whether that be love, money, success, better health or peace of mind – by making simple changes in your daily routine. Mindfully incorporate all the 21 daily rituals into your life, most of which can be performed in a matter of moments, and you will notice positive change. You will discover for yourself that you are what you do. You will be left in no doubt that your daily rituals, have astonishing life changing power.
Positive doing.
I’d love to know how you get on with the rituals and when you start noticing positive change so please do write to me via Watkins books or get in touch with me at my Theresa Cheung Author page on Facebook or via my website www.theresacheung.com.
Thank you for reading this feature and thinking about what I’ve said. I do hope you will move beyond positive thinking now and start positive doing. Remember, positive thinking alone can’t open the door to success and happiness. You also need the magical power of I do.
