Before You think Your Next thought
Copyright © 2004 Harald Anderson

Every thought we think is creating our future. - Louise L. Hay

Researchers have discovered that the average person thinks anywhere between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. Since the majority of us spend anywhere from 16-18 hours awake each day, we think a thought on average about every 1.1 seconds. That’s a whole lot of thinking going on. With this much thinking taking place there is nothing more important than to focus that energy on a meaningful goal that targets your objective. Whether you are an individual or business manager looking to improve your own condition, the GOAL is the instrument that puts order and purpose into all of this thought energy. Your thoughts lead to action. Your actions create habits. And the habits of your life will determine your ultimate destiny.

The principal premise of the personal development movement is that thoughts become things and that we get whatever we focus upon most. The questions that I think are worth asking are:

a) If thoughts are our currency for acquiring what we want, then what is it that you are spending your currency on?
b) Are you getting a good deal?
c) Are you experiencing the life you deserve?


I have yet to meet someone who claims to like setting goals. Most of us have tried goal setting at some point in our life and failed and just decided it was too much of a hassle. When we come to realize that the goal is comparable to a canvas for an artist we then begin to recognize the importance of goals in channeling our energy towards a desired purpose. The 60,000 thoughts are going to be there day in and day out. It would make good sense to focus those thoughts to an area that would result in a marked improvement of your life.

We are all familiar with the retail buying experience. We walk into a store. Locate the merchandise we want. Pay for it. Take it home. I submit that we engage in this exact same experience in designing our lives. Problem is that when our lives are not going the way we want we are unwilling to admit that we created that condition. It takes a great deal of courage to admit that our belief system might need some rewiring if we are not leading the lives we want.

Look around you right now at your surroundings. Everything that you own is a product of your thoughts. Likewise, everything that you don’t own is a product of your thoughts. Some quality thoughts are considered “too expensive” to even consider contemplating so we never even entertain them. When is the last time that you reminded yourself how “awesome” you are in spite of whatever problems are lurking in your life?
So we often spend our time with the thoughts that are most real to us and the thoughts that we know we can afford. Funny thing is that we have a budget of 60,000 thoughts each day to create whatever we want. In spite of that possibility so much of humanity traps itself in the “closeout thoughts aisle” and then wonders why life has become a battle for basic survival.

Here are a few of the more famous closeout aisle thought patterns:

“It’s just the way I am. I can’t help it.”
”I can’t control what I think.”
“They are just thoughts for Gods sake! That doesn’t matter!”
”I just feel that way and there is nothing I can do about it.”

The reality is that we CAN help it. There is no more important skill in life than learning to control the focus of our mind. In so doing, we can literally change our destiny. Every decision you make stems for the viewpoint of what you think you are and the value you place upon yourself. In the blink of an eye you can change your beliefs of what is possible and recognize that those limitations you encounter are all part of a flawed belief system.

I spent about thirty minutes trying to log my thoughts. Within minutes I discovered that my focus was literally “all over the universe.” Hundreds of disjointed thoughts entered and left my consciousness in a matter of minutes. Trying to keep track of them all was an exercise in futility. What this simple exercise taught me though was to understand the importance of goals. A goal certainly adds a focus and structure to thinking. The more ambitious the goal the more it forces us out of the “closeout aisle” and into the realization that the biggest obstacle in our lives is usually ‘us.’ The one thing I can guarantee you is that you will spend your thought budget every single day. Consciously or unconsciously you will think one thought every 1.1 seconds. With this being the case don’t you think it might be a good idea to make a concerted effort to focus your attention on the things that you want to create? Isn’t that the entire purpose behind having goals? Isn’t that the entire purpose to happy living?

A good friend of mine is working diligently on expanding his business. The one thing he is focused on is understanding that his growth in the past was a direct result of his thinking. Now as he confronts the future he recognizes that his thinking has become the obstacle to getting to the next level. Interesting dilemma isn’t it? You want to grow but you have to be willing to change your thoughts to do so.

Sounds real easy until you have to confront this issue yourself.


The one question that he reiterates to me every time we speak is…
“What would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?”

I have no doubt that within this question lies all the wisdom that an individual or organization would ever need to be able to achieve whatever they wanted.

“What would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?”

As I started asking myself that question I began to uncover counterproductive illusions about beliefs, ideas and thoughts that I nurture without even realizing it. Maybe you can relate? It reminds of the comment Mark Twain once made when he said, “I have been through some really terrible stressful things in my life..........some of them which actually happened.”

The secret of business success is ridiculously simple. So much so that we often dismiss it. What thoughts have you planted that are creating your current experience? What illusions do you regularly entertain that prevent you from being responsible for every area of your life? You can blame others for the unhappiness you feel, or you can take responsibility for your life. But you cannot do both. You must make a choice.

The 'divinity that shapes your destiny' is you!

Every day for the rest of your life you will think roughly 60,000 thoughts. Unless you focus that energy into some meaningful purpose you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Set ambitious goals for yourself and you will be well on your way to choosing the best thoughts energy can buy! The focus that this will create in your life will speak volumes. A question that will assist you in this regard whenever you experience a setback is:
“What would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?”

Think about what you think about, before you think that next thought!

Be careful with what you agree with!

Harald Anderson is the co-founder of Artinspires.com a leading online gallery of motivational posters and inspirational prints.“When Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com/