A Universal Truth We Often Get Backwards

There's a universal truth that many people think they believe, but actually believe the exact opposite - without even realizing it.

And it keeps them stuck.

"Focus on your inner thoughts more than the world around you, because your inner thoughts create the world around you."

Intellectually we understand this idea - we ‘heart’ the meme when it comes across our Instagram feed.

But, most people go against this universal truth.

How?

We often walk through life unconsciously, unaware of the thoughts we’re thinking. It’s only when a situation shows up in our life that we don’t like or want gets our attention - causing us to focus on it (coming into our awareness or consciousness). 

This is focusing on the world around you.

The ‘situation’ is the end result, yet we’re tricked into thinking that it’s the beginning because we were unaware of our thoughts before the situation caught our attention - we were unconscious. 

Consequently, we’re surprised. The situation seems to appear out of nowhere. 

We see the situation as the cause of how we think and feel. 

But when we do some deep reflection, we discover that the situation is not the cause of what we think and feel, it’s the consequence of how we think and feel. 

The work, then, becomes pinpointing thoughts that we’ve nurtured long before the situation ever manifested in our ‘world’.

A good place to start with “deep reflection” is to put the spotlight on your thoughts by writing down what you think about an unfavorable situation. Then, write out a new, often opposite thought that will create the situation you desire instead.

For example, you feel stress while at work. Seeing your list of to-do’s (focusing on the world around you), you think, “There’s never enough time to get everything done.” This is your unfavorable situation. However, you’ve likely been thinking and believing this thought for a while, without realizing it - the “inner thought” that “created the world around you.” 

By contrast, choose a thought that leads to a better situation (focus on your inner thoughts), such as:

• “There’s plenty of time to get everything done.”
• “I get everything done that needs to be done in this time.”
• “What needs to be done will get done.”
• “I am extremely productive and get everything done.”

You get the idea.

So, if something appears to be happening to you, especially if it seems like it came out of nowhere, it’s a prompt to stop looking at a situation as a cause of your thoughts … and instead look at the situation as the end result of your thoughts. 

This exercise has the potential to improve the quality of your life experiences - like a superpower for creating the life you desire -  if you aim to embrace it and practice it.