(ThyBlackMan.com) Everything single thing you do, acquire or achieve is determined by your habits and your decisions. Successful people in any and all areas are people who make great decisions and who have habits that work for them instead of against them. But before action can impact anything, the right thinking, mindset or perspective must be in place. This article, if you receive the message of it, will unlock expectation and potential within you that you have never known. And that is life-changing.
YOU MAY NEVER HEAR A MEESAGE LIKE THIS EVER AGAIN
What I am about to tell you can change your life, set you apart from others, give you advantages you never thought of and help you move faster, climb higher and make fewer mistakes in the process. But it requires you to adapt a mindset of critical thinking as a way of life, not a lazy mind that thinks only when backed into a corner.
Most of you live, work, think and believe in a box. You are surrounded by friends, family, church members and co-workers who do the exact same thing. And most people who are in the box do not even realize they are. Therefore they seldom fight to get out of the box. And for those who do, they first have to realize you will never get out of the box unless you first think outside of it and then realize there is a better life outside of the box than inside of it.
EXCUSES, PROCRASTINATION AND BLAMING OTHERS ARE YOUR ENEMIES
Some boxes are not bad but all boxes are confining and restrictive, limiting your thinking, your actions, your perspective and your potential. As an example, for decades I have seen entrepreneurs trying to get out of the box but they cannot let go of the very box that hinders them – their jobs. So they take on venture after venture but they never let go of their jobs because they really don’t trust themselves to produce in the way their employers produce for them.
What I am talking about is developing the ability to think outside of the box. Before any successful person achieved anything, it began with a thought, a belief that it was possible, a commitment to follow through and a strong sense of self-worth that embedded the reality of thee right to have good, great and phenomenal things happen. The belief that the person deserves it and expects it comes before any person can make it happen.
Thinking outside of the box means developing a mindset that is creative, resourceful and regularly able to find methods and solutions to make things come out the way you need them to. It is thinking on a whole different level than most, a level that gives you advantages over the average person. A
You see you don’t have to look at what others have, what others have done and how you wish you could too. You don’t have to sit there and have a dream when you should be opening your mind to a vision. You cannot afford to be a dreamer because dreams are usually not based in reality but visions often come true – and you have to overstand the difference.
It’s not just about positive affirmations, its about believing them, knowing them, realizing you deserve them and then letting your mind take you outside of the box. That means being resourceful, unique, creative and finding ways to make things happen which others cannot find. If you keep doing what everybody else does, you will only get what every average person has. That is why so many people struggle today and that is why so many people hang around friends and family who struggle just the same.
Thinking outside of the box takes practice daily in every possible situation. Personally i don’t pay what most people pay for the very same things they buy from the same places. I expect favor, discounts, sales and results that are just the way I want them – or as close to them as possible. my wife can verify that is true and that what I am telling you works. All of the time or every single time? No. But most of the time? You better believe it. By most people’s definition my wife and I are successful, even though we define success on our terms. But what about you? And expecting or waiting for God to do for you what you were uniquely created to do for yourself is entirely missing the point.
So now you have a good idea why a man who never finished high school can be a college instructor or make $6 million a year as a radio talk show host. Now you can begin to overstand why a man who was told in college that he should find another sport became known as Michael Jordan. Or why a slave (Josiah Henson, the inspiration in the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin) was a hero who saved the money to buy his own freedom yet was painted as a villain. Now you can begin to grasp how a man can be locked in a prison in South Africa for 20 years then survive and come out to become President Mandela. You may even be able to overstand how an African-American woman in her 30s can write stories which later became movies known as The Matrix and Terminator. You have no idea what you are capable of, not yet. And the list is endless.
There is greatness in you but you will never unleash it unless you can think outside of the box, no matter how man degrees you earn, cars you buy, clothes and jewelry you wear or how highly everyone else thinks of you. The greatness is first inside. starting with what your mind can believe and conceive then moving to the fire of passion in the heart. Once that happens, it can radiate outward to impact and change the world around you. But until then, no amount of materialism can compensate for it.
It is absolute necessary that you are around like-minded people so your circle of friends may need to change and you may need to keep many of your family members at arm’s length. Those who cannot think outside of the box are likely to discourage you from thinking outside of the box. Those who struggle are likely to have you join them, even if they do not mean to. And those who cannot hold you accountable for setting a high bar and standards of excellence will inadvertently work against your success. When you are around anybody, you will rub off on them or they will rub off on you. If you hang with pigeons, never expect to soar like an eagle. Notice that eagles only hang with eagles. Lions only hang with lions. Sharks only swim with sharks. And you have to adopt this philosophy – yesterday!
Are you working in a job you dislike for wages that are not enough? Why? Are you in a relationship that works for you half the time and against you the other half? Why? Or are you alone and making excuses? Why? Are you in debt? Why? Or have you paid off your house and car? Why not? What would happen if you did not get paid for a month? Do you have a money in the bank, an emergency fund, a decent savings account? What are you always wanted to do, needed to do and should have done but you haven’t? Why not? The alarm clock is ringing and the snooze button can only delay your success.
You may very well have what it takes, but not by perpetrating. Not by calling yourself a queen, a diva, a king or a boss when you think and act like a servant and think like a slave. It’s time to wake up, raise your standards, raise your self-expectation by elevating your thinking. Once you do, the box will never be able to hold you and you will never be satisfied in being trapped by it. So write that book, start that business, create that invention and make it work. Stop sitting on the sidelines watching people become successful when it could be you. Always expect more from yourself, never make excuses and don’t empower others with the ability to stop you. Think outside of the box before the box closes in on you.
Staff Writer; Trevo Craw