My Words - My Reality?

A benefit of being married to a guy from the other side of the world is that I get exposed to poetry that I otherwise most likely would not know. Consider this quote from Hafiz, a 13th century Persian poet:

"The words we speak become the house we live in"

Hafiz is reminding us that our words help create our reality.

Many years earlier, the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzo said:

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

I think these guys were on to something!

This came up for me because my son and I had an interesting discussion - is "manifestation" is a real thing? Can we bring things into being by simply believing it will be so?

As my Google AI has summarized:

Manifestation is a self-development practice that involves using thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions to turn a desired outcome into reality. The practice is based on the idea that positive thoughts attract positive experiences, and negative thoughts attract negative experiences.

What do you think - were Lao Tzu and Hafiz referring to manifestation? It's an interesting question.

I believe that we (our thoughts, words and actions) have a great deal to do with our destiny. And yet, things happen in the world and in our lives that are out of our direct control.

Just as we do with our health, though, we try to stack the odds in our favor - we exercise, eat well and try to take care of our bodies in order to be healthy and live a long life.

So, we can do the same with our other dreams and aspirations - stack the deck in our favor. Ask yourself - are my thoughts, my words, my actions directed toward my desired future self?

Psychological research finds that positive thinking is helpful in increasing our motivation and resilience - critical attributes for taking the actions necessary to create our desired future. So, manifestation of your dreams through just believing something will happen is not enough. [As much as I would like someone to drop a million dollars into my bank account, I'm afraid it's quite unlikely to happen without some effort on my part!]

I hope this newsletter resonates with you - I'd love to hear from you. I have the incredible privilege of working with individuals who are seeking to make change in their lives and work. Let's discuss how coaching can help you reframe negative thoughts to produce positive outcomes.