“Watch your thoughts, because they become words.

Choose your words, because they become actions.

Understand your actions, for they become habits.

Study your habits, for they will become your character.

Develop your character, because it becomes your destiny.”

Read those words over and over again, for they are very simple, very powerful, and very true. Think about the domino effect, how things are touched and molded that you may not even know about. Your thoughts will lead you to your destination. You do not have a predetermined destiny, except that destiny that you choose for yourself with your own thoughts. Your only default destination is the one you choose for yourself. Your future is just a decision away.

Those things that determine your thoughts are most of the time the things that catch you off guard, those little everyday things that slowly seep in and shape your opinions that you think are your own. These can be radio, television, debates, political events, religious teachings, or whatever surrounds you every day. Think of it this way, if you pour half a glass of milk, do you expect to taste the orange juice when you take a drink? Do you expect to smell the refreshing sweet aroma of orange juice? Do you expect to see orange juice in the glass or on the table if you pour it? Of course not! If you put milk in, you get milk out, plain and simple. So why do we think we can fill our heads and hearts with garbage from music, television, negative political discussions, hanging with the wrong people or wrong religious thoughts and get pure and unaltered thoughts and opinions? How can we fill ourselves with garbage and not portray garbage? Well, although some will disagree with me because they think they are strong enough to fight these constants, it is impossible to put garbage and get something of value from a person, even from you.

In fact, making the right decision for your future is a difficult and concentrated task. For this reason alone, many, in fact, most people don’t make the best decisions. Our society likes the easy and convenient things in life, and that includes easy thinking. We’ve all heard before that if you want to change a few things in your life, then you have to change a few things in your life. This now cliché statement refers to this very idea, that if you want to change where you will be tomorrow, change how you think today, because those thoughts today will determine your actions, your words, your character and your destiny for your future… and it all begins with your next individual decision.

You are nothing more than a reflection of your thoughts, and your thoughts are nothing more than a combined reflection of your environment and past experiences. In order to grow, you must overcome your current reflection and become a projection of who you want to become. When you project that image and choose to begin focusing on the goal of becoming that projected person, you will overcome the reflection, break the cycle, and become great. Whether you are the best janitor or the best doctor, you will be a great person with value to add to every life you come in contact with, either directly or through the ripple effect we have discussed.

We have heard it said many times that the height of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is a powerful thought if you really take the time to think about it. So if you want a different result, you change those things to get there, right? “Well, yes, but; I’m too old; I’m too young; I’m too poor; I’m too well known in this area; I’m too whatever…” No, you’re too full of excuses! Do you want that cycle to change…

So you need to change the path you’re on… change your direction. Although it is not possible to change your circumstances overnight, it IS possible to change your direction overnight. And if you don’t change what you’re doing today, all your tomorrows will seem like yesterday.

Our inherent physical nature is that even if we are what we think is “happy,” we still strive to do better. And that’s okay… in fact it’s what we should do. If we stay complacent and just slide, then we are not growing. If we are not growing, then we are regressing. There is no way to stop the movement of our lives. We either go forward or we go backwards, and maintaining is just a slow movement backwards from who we are. It is better that we are trying to improve our lives in every area if we want to please our Creator, but always keeping in mind that it is for Him, not for us, that we work to be better, to do better, to have more, to do more. , etc.

For example, when Paul (in the Bible) said that he was glad to have his “pillow of stone” as he traveled from town to town in the deserts of the Middle East, he didn’t say for a second that he hoped it would stay that way. Somehow, just that he was okay with it for now…that he could deal with it because he was focused on the positive in his life, not the negative.

Paul certainly would have liked to be more comfortable, like all of us, but his mind, heart and energy were focused on something much better and much higher. He had a goal bigger than himself. The stone was better than nothing to lean on, so it was fine for him at the time. But I bet if you had offered Paul a soft comfortable pillow and some warm blankets he wouldn’t have said “Oh no thanks, I like my rock. Thanks anyway.”

The point here is that we need to change where we are now. You need to find a focus on something that is bigger than you, and that can only be something that improves the lives of more people than just you. Focusing on one thing will only suffice for a short time, and the rewards of achieving it last even longer. It is only by touching others and serving others that we become great.

To summarize, let’s go back to the short saying that started this chapter; your thoughts will determine your destiny. Only you have the power to change your direction and determine your path. Change is uncomfortable, but it causes growth that becomes natural and second nature. Find a goal bigger than yourself, worthy of your time, something that serves the needs and good of others, a goal that inspires you to great deeds, becoming the leader you are on the inside, even if you don’t know it yet. you realize Get up, be who you are, not who society tells you that you are. You are a leader, unconscious, waiting to lead the march to greatness.