What are YOU most focused on?
Thomas Payne, in ‘The Rights Of Man’ (1971) said “It is the faculty of the human mind to become what it contemplates and to act in unison with its objective.”
Or, as countless self-help and success ‘gurus’ have put it since – You become what you think about most.
So, what do YOU think about most? What are YOU focused on? Because what you fill your mind with is what you are programming yourself to become… This is an important aspect of the mind/body link, often overlooked, or not its consequences not fully grasped.
For instance, when it comes to health, where is your focus? Do you put your attention on aches and pains? The inevitable decline of the passing years? Do you worry, fret and ponder on your ailment(s)? This is natural, of course, but the more you think about BAD health, the more you fuel it, and the worse it gets. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In psychology, this effect is called ‘priming’ – in one famous experiment by Prof John Bargh, subjects were asked to spot the ‘odd one out’ from lists of words, and then, unknown to them, their walking speed was timed as they left the room at the end of the experiment. When the lists of words they had been given contained words associated with old age, they walked more slowly as they left!Their minds had been ‘primed’ by the word lists, and they unconsciously acted out this internal programming.
So, the more time and energy you devote to your ailment, pain, depression, or other health concern, the more you ‘prime’ yourself for more of the same. You will unknowingly act in ways that are in keeping with your mental picture of illness. You may of heard of ‘The Law Of Attraction‘ – the new age idea of visualising desired states outcomes, in order to make them real. It’s the same idea, but in reverse.
I’m not saying you need to never give a thought to what might be going wrong, or to ignore the realities of your present situation. For instance, a bit of research into a troubling condition can be very useful, at times.
But here’s the key:
Put your focus into improving your health, and your health will improve. Put your time into learning how to improve health and vitality. Concentrate on THAT. Use the ‘natural faculty’ of the human mind to ‘become what it contemplates’ in a positive way, and you will be programming yourself to not only think well, but act well, and become well.
(And if you want some help along the way, I’d be happy to help – I invite you sign up to my free newsletter and get access to my detailed online training video – you can sign up here)
