James Allen wrote in his timeless classic As a Man Thinketh, “All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.” If your life is going to change, you must think change. You are always only one thought away from changing your life. As Joel Osteen says, “You can live your best life now!”
Here’s the principle: You will never have more or go further or accomplish greater things than your thoughts will allow you to. Therefore, you must create an opulent thinking environment in order to create an opulent life. Your life is a reflection of your most dominant thoughts and meditations. When you make it a practice to meditate on success, you will begin to live a successful life.
The trouble for most people is that they don’t know exactly what success would look like for them as individuals or, more importantly, what it would feel like personally. It is not enough just to meditate on success generally; you need to be specific. You are the architect and building contractor of your future.
Use your thoughts as an architect uses a blueprint. Think about every detail. An architect thinks not only about the rooms in a house but also about the types of windows, sizes of closets, location of electrical outlets and so on. Nothing is too insignificant. Think big and think detailed!
Ask Michael Dell. Borrowing $1,000 from family members at 19, he launched the multibillion-dollar company that dominates computer manufacturing today. On the premise that he could beat out large manufacturers by building custom computers and selling directly to consumers, he began selling systems and accessories out of his dorm room. This radical idea shook the computer world to its foundations.
How did he do it? He thought big, he thought detailed, and he thought outside the box.
If you want your life to be different, you must dare to think differently—dare to think outside the box. Think possibility thoughts. Remember, according to Mark 10:27, “with God all things are possible” (NKJV).
Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like thinking outside the box. Unleash the power of your mind. Learn to cultivate possibility thinking.
Think about something that has never been done, or put a new spin on something that has always been around. In 1886, John Pemberton turned common medicinal syrup into a cultural phenomenon by combining it with carbonated water and serving it as a refreshing drink. Coca-Cola is now the most widely known beverage on the planet.
Bill Gates, the computer mogul, was determined to find a way to apply his skills in the computer industry. At Harvard, Gates spent many long nights in front of the school’s computer discussing ideas and the possibility of a future computer business with fellow student Paul Allen.
When browsing through a magazine one day, Allen and Gates saw that the computer market was about to explode and that someone would have to make software for all those new machines. They acted on this hunch and worked on a program they thought had promise. Within the year, Bill Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard, and Microsoft was formed.
