Today’s Thought: Creating the life you desire is like taking a snapshot: when you look through the lens of a camera, everything but that upon which you focus falls away. The same is true when weaving the reality we long to live.
Our instinct is to change our lives by focusing on situations or actions we want to eliminate or shift. When you understand how the brain works, though, you will see this to be an illogical and impractical approach. Quitting or changing something is hard work. Life can actually be much simpler than that when you use the tools at your disposal. Your brain is your tool, your friend. It is on your side, it wants to see you survive and thrive. You just need to learn to speak so it understands what you really desire.
Your brain is wired to chase the benefits of pleasure and avoid pain and discomfort. If you want to successfully shift or change something in your life, asking your brain to ‘quit’ something you love or ‘push through’ something you hate is guaranteeing a difficult journey. Asking your mind to skip the reward of cookies in exchange for a grueling workout is like asking it to fail. Its focus is on pleasure and pain assessment in the present. It cares not how you will feel on your beach vacation next month, it is concerned with the here and now.
Instead, try giving your brain a snapshot of success. What do I mean? Focus on the outcome you want – not the hard work or sacrifice to get there, but the resulting moments. Picture yourself in that moment. Feel it. What sights and sounds surround you? What emotions do you feel? Really step inside that snapshot in your mind. Just like when taking a photo, bring it fully into focus. Then hold it there, daily. Reflect on it often. Feel it, live it, taste it, right down to your bones.
Next, start living as the person in that snapshot. If you have visioned a fitter self, eat, drink, and move as that fit person would. There is no “I can’t have this” or “I must do that.” There is simply, “I am this fit person. This is what I eat. This is how I move. This is how I handle temptation.” If you have visioned a promotion, move through your days exhibiting the behaviors, actions, choices, and language of a person in that position. Soon enough, those snapshots in your head will become your reality. No struggle with quitting or resisting pleasure. Embodying the reality of the snapshot that exists in your mind is the key to manifesting it straight into reality.
For Today: Dream, with every atom of your being, the life you know you are meant to live. Bring it fully into focus, and take a mental snapshot. Allow it to grow bigger and brighter in your mind’s eye, ‘til it eclipses everything else. Now start making choices through the filter the person in that vision would. Don’t allow pictures of failure to enter your mind! If they do, just pull out your mental snapshot and let it eclipse the negative one – always go back to the picture of reality you are aiming for. Remember – you owe it to yourself to create your own personal brand of amazing, every day of your life.
Smile bright for the snapshot of your life!