For a long time it was nothing more than intuition.
I didn’t even think about it.
I was simply living life…and one way or another everything worked out the way I wanted.
Sometimes it took a few days, sometimes it took a few months.
But it always turned out well.
With some more years of life under my belt I started thinking: why am I happy?
Why do things turn out well for me?
Why do others have – seemingly – more struggles than me?
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s this: my answer to these questions will evolve over time.
But for now I’d say: the difference is all in one’s mental attitude.
We all have disappointments.
We all have problems.
We all have failures.
We all have moments that question our expectations.
We all have opportunities (for growth).
We all have delayed success.
I could go on for a while, but you get the point.
Getting the point, however, is just the first step.
It’s what follows that separates the happy from the unhappy.
The successful from the unsuccessful.
The fulfilled from the unfulfilled.
Action.
Not just any kind of action.
But the kind that aligns with what you think about.
Which for most of us means: doing that which you have done not until now.
I was fortunate that this came natural to me as a teenager.
Having my thoughts and actions in sync.
It wasn’t until a few years after college – well into my 20s – that I started asking myself the questions I posed at the beginning.
I wasn’t only comparing myself to others. I was equally comparing myself to a younger self.
One free of complicated thoughts.
One where life was simple and straightforward.
It wasn’t until I started feeling that my personal development had stalled.
That moment where you realize that your life is ultimately what you make of it.
That nobody could guide me forever.
Nobody could show me what’s up ahead.
I have to walk the journey alone. One step at a time.
Relationships and support come and go.
As do opportunities.
But your thoughts, your emotions, your actions.
Those are always at your disposal.
It wasn’t until I hit that slump that I realized I couldn’t make decisions with others paving the way for me forever.
Reaching the conclusion that everything is a result of one’s mental attitude seemed only natural.
The only question that remained was: how to harness it?
I wouldn’t say I have found the answer to that question.
Looking at my peers…I think that many haven’t even reached the point of asking themselves this question.
They’re stuck thinking in disappointments, problems and failures.
Going along with whatever their mind convinces them of.
Rather than working together with their mind. Harnessing its power. Creating their preferred life.
So, it’s no surprise that many lack belief in, or the imagination of, the possibilities life offers.
Or at least in their own possibilities.
And of the few that do…let’s just say that patience is a virtue.
Why am I happier?
Why do I have fewer struggles?
Earl Nightingale put it well in the “Strangest Secret”: we become what we think about.
Deep and to the point.
And a great starting point.
Because I would like to add to that: action and belief.
Continue to work on those three aspects – thought, action and belief – in a never-ending cycle of self-improvement and anything in life can be achieved.
Getting there is not easy.
But it all starts with awareness.
That we can control our thoughts. How we think.
That we can control our actions. What we do.
That we can control our emotions. Positivity, perseverance and patience.
That these allow us to dream our wildest dreams…and make it all possible.
I’m glad I learnt this at a young age.