Success - Your Are What You Think About

You have complete control over your thoughts. Thought patterns develop over a lifetime; a result of the influences of schooling, parents, friends, relatives, TV, movies, etc.

Unfortunately, most of the guidance received about how to think is negative. More effort is spent teaching what you can't do rather than what you can. Whatever your thinking is now, you can learn to alter it. Study the thinking of successful people.

Mark Allen, a six-time ironman triathlon champion started by studying the techniques of previous winners. He wanted to know how they trained and prepared themselves. Allen then incorporated their successful techniques into his own practice sessions.

Another powerful mental tool that Allen utilized was visualization. Allen visualized his performance of his next event before sleeping. Athletes have found that visualizing successful accomplishment can be as effective as the actual physical training.

An American prisoner of war in Vietnam visualized playing golf every day to help endure the hardships of captivity. After being released, his golf skills had markedly improved even though he hadn't physically played in years.

Visualization is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to change your thinking. Through visualization, you control the desired outcome in your mind. In your mind you can overcome any obstacle. You can rehearse a situation over and over anytime and anywhere.

Your mind must be conditioned to be impervious to negative criticism. Rather than wanting to join you on your goal-achieving quest, most people would instead prefer you to fail. Other people will be jealous. There's nothing you can do to control their thoughts.

The first modern rocket scientist, Robert Goddard, a physics professor, had his research denounced by the press. In 1920, a newspaper editorial stated that Goddard "seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."

Amid condemnation and with little support from fellow scientists, Goddard became a leading pioneer of the space era. He achieved success by focusing on reaching his goals instead of what people thought of his research.

Develop a belief in your goals and the path you choose to achieve them. It takes a lot of practice to free yourself from what other people say, think or do. You must overcome a strong societal outlook that other people's opinion of you is important.

The discoverer of the Titanic wreck, Robert Ballard, tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to obtain financing needed for his search. Additionally, hunting for the Titanic was considered folly by several fellow scientists. Yet, with an unshakable belief in himself and his goals, he overcame all obstacles and found the wreckage in 1985.

The type of thinking that all successful people have is available to you. You can opt to pattern your thinking after those who have achieved success, often despite overwhelming odds.

Changing your thinking requires effort. Many people who are close to you won't understand or support your endeavors. If you are laughed at and criticized, this is good. It means that you are experiencing the same reaction as some of the greatest minds in history and are in the best of company.

Bryan Golden is a self-development and motivational expert, author, and adjunct professor. He is the author of "Dare to Live Without Limits," and writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column. For more information please visit: http://www.daretolivewithoutlimits.com or http://www.bryangolden.com

MORE RESOURCES:

RELATED ARTICLES

Do You Know Whats The #1 Success Secret Is?
How many people do you hear complaining about their job, where they live, how little money they have, or how they can never take a vacation?How many times have you heard those same people, when they hear about someone else who made a lot of money from an idea, say,"I could have done that!" But yet, they didn't.And they continue to complain about where they are in life.

I Just Did It!
I succeeded. I achieved my goal.

The Art of Adapting to Change
One of the main reasons that may hinder us from reaching our innermost goals and desires is our inability to be flexible.This fact may be hard to swallow, but it's true.

The Disciplines of Success
Success, in the dictionary, is defined as, "The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted." So why is success in our society defined by the balance in your bank account, the car you drive, or how big your house is? You are successful if you are a lawyer, doctor, or movie actor with a six figure income.

Work Smarter Not Harder
When you are working over time but yet you do not have any money in your saving, then you do not work smart enough. When you are working two jobs, but still can not pay the bills, then you do not work smart enough.

How Do You Spell Success
A person who is illiterate can look at a word without knowing what it means. Perhaps he can recognize the shape of some of the letters; perhaps she even knows that certain of these shapes are representative of certain sounds; still, the veil cannot be pierced.

The Imposter Syndrome - Do You Feel Like a Fraud?
There is a disquieting trend emerging among women particularly - that of feeling like a fraud at work, along with the accompanying fear and anxiety about being "found out".The Scientific EvidenceThis trend has been investigated scientifically only relatively recently, with studies beginning in the seventies, with findings that the people who suffered from this syndrome had significantly high levels of self-doubt and an inability to internalise their success (Clance & Imes, 1978).

You Are What You Think You Are
Think out of the box, they say. But what's a box?In the context of the discussion here the 'box' is the sub-conscious mind.

Creating Success - Understand The Tao of Success
One of the most important aspects of creating success involves a delicate balance between two somewhat opposing forces - REFLECTION and ACTION. This balance is very similar to the balance of Yin and Yang in the Tao philosophy.

What People Say about the People They Work With Reflects on Themselves
Often, what people say about other people behind their backs is a nasty reflection on the talker. You might be surprised by what I heard from an IRS executive.

5 Key Ways to Attract Abundance and Prosperity
When you hear the words "abundance" and "prosperity", what immediately comes to mind?Is it money, fulfilling relationships, a lovely house to live in, peace of mind, a career/vocation that expresses your gifts?It may be all or none of those things. It may mean something else to you.

Stop Reading Success Books and Start Being Successful
So you want to be successful (whatever that means to you) and you've been to the motivational lectures, seminars and you've read the latest books on how to make a billion dollars in 17 seconds!!!So where's you billion dollars?Well, to many of us listen to and read the advice of others but then fail to ACT, so what do you have to do to be successful?It's not easy to be successful but the answer to achieving it is in taking action and not just going to another seminar and reading another book before you have actually put something into practice that you have just learnt.The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is successful people take action and move forward, while unsuccessful people wait for the action to happen around them and stay still.

The Lazy Mans Way To Riches
The title of this article also happens to be the title of one of the greatest ads of all time, written by a man named Joe Karbo.Joe was was one of the foremost copy-writers, headline writers and direct response experts of all time.

The Clich�s of Success
The problem with writing about success is that almost everything ends up sounding like a clich�. It has all been said before.

The Ungiven Gift
He was pencil thin and walked with a limp. A thirteen year-old boy with huge yearning eyes who was always an unlucky patient on the children's floor of the hospital where my youngest daughter was all too often incarcerated.

Smith Could "C" the Future
Frederick W. Smith attended Yale University and wrote a paper on the concept of overnight package delivery.

Back-Planning For Success
Coming up with new dreams and passions can be fun, easy and inspiring - at least until you sit down and begin trying to sort out how to actually accomplish these wild goals. Suddenly, what seemed like such a clear and well-marked path takes on the aspect of an overgrown and thickly brambled wilderness of dangerous, unseen pitfalls and endlessly branching and unmarked trails.

Today I Choose
Here is a great way to create affirmations that may be helpful to you. Here's how it works:You start off the affirmation with "Today I choose.

How To Deal With Change
It is often said that the only things in life that are inevitable are death and taxes. Well, you can add a third item to the things that are inevitable, and that is change.

Self-confidence - How To Develop This Important Key to Success
"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation" - Arthur AsheSelf-confidence is necessary for successSelf-confidence is necessary not only to achieve success with our goals, but also to live a happier and contented life.