When you plant a positive seed of thought in your mind and nurture it carefully, it germinates and grows until it leads you to take action.
As soon as you begin acting on your idea, your seed of positive thought becomes a seedling of positive action.
If you continue to feed and encourage this seedling, it gradually develops into a tree of positive habit.
Once this habit has become solid and immovable, it is then only a matter of time before it blossoms to produce the fruits of success.
However it is important to be aware that the garden of your mind does not discriminate between positive and negative seeds of thought.
A negative seed of thought planted within your mind often leads you to take negative actions. These actions gradually develop into negative habits that will inevitably produce the fruits of failure.
When you understand that your thoughts lead to actions and your actions develop into habits and that it is your habits that determine your results in life, then you’ll appreciate why it’s so important to be careful about the seeds of thought that you plant within your mind.
One of the real secrets of success is to become a watchful caretaker over the garden of your mind and make sure that you only plant and cultivate thoughts that will develop into the positive habits necessary for making your dreams a reality.
So what does this mean in the real world?
It means that you should carefully monitor the thoughts that you are planting within your mind each day. Whenever you catch yourself planting or nurturing a negative thought, make the conscious decision to uproot and discard it.
For example, when Andrew went to see his doctor, he was told that he had high cholesterol and needed to lose 10kg. In response to this advice, Andrew joined his local gym and started exercising three days a week.
A few weeks later Andrew stood in front of his bed room mirror and assessed his reflection.
His first thought was, “I look exactly the same! All that hard work and I don’t look any different. This isn’t working at all.”
Then he stopped and realized that this was a negative seed of thought. He knew that if he continued to nurture this negative perspective it wouldn’t be long before he started skipping sessions and pretty soon his exercise program would be a thing of the past.
Having recognized his negative seed of thought, Andrew made the conscious decision to uproot and discard it before it took hold in his mind.
He took a second look at his reflection and told himself, “Every training session is making me fitter.” This was a positive seed of thought that made him feel good about the action he was taking.
Over time, Andrew continued his training program while protecting his mind from the disempowering seeds of negativity. Eventually he reached his goal weight and brought his cholesterol level down to a healthy level.
So today I’d like to encourage you to become a watchful caretaker of your mind. Whenever you identify a seed of negative thought, uproot and discard it.
Remember, it is much easier to uproot a seed of negative thought than it is to chop down a tree of negative habit that has taken root over many years.
By planting and cultivating seeds of positive thought, you will set in motion a truly remarkable process.
In the same way that a tiny acorn develops into a mighty oak tree, your positive seeds of thought will germinate into the actions and habits that will ultimately lead you to success.
Until next time,
Dare to Dream!
Anthony