What You Think is What You Get

Probably the most significant and vital arena of our lives is our internal world–that of our thoughts and emotions–our heads and hearts. Yet interestingly, our psycho-spiritual lives tend to get relegated to the back burner in the face of a modern world which emphasizes achievement, acquisitions and success. It is easy to forget that the quality of our lives is more affected by what is inside of us that what is outside–not so much what happens, but how we experience those events.

How valuable it is to take a good look at how the mental/emotional complex within each of us actually works. What makes us tick? The basic principle behind the answer is, “What you think is what you get.”

As human beings we operate primarily out of what I call “conditioned mind.” All of the experiences and impressions that we have gathered during life create for us a kind of filter through which we interpret life’s events. Over time, whether from repeated similar experiences, or due to major “life-altering” events, we tend to expect that past experiences will be repeated. And by the very fact that we expect certain things to keep occurring–whether through love or fear, we actually draw those same experiences to us. As such, our thoughts create our reality.

For example, if as a child we have had the repeated experience that we can truly trust others, our internal filter will naturally draw us to those we actually can trust, and we will even bring out the trustworthiness in others. But if our experience taught us that trusting brought us pain, then, those internal filters will make us inclined to see that which cannot be trusted in others and to connect with those who cannot be trusted. What we think is what we get.

One of the most dramatic areas where this principle has been applied is the world of sports. Studies have repeatedly shown that visualization with practice yields far greater success than practice alone. Visualization is nothing more that a conscious choice to have a thought of the desired results. It is the practice on systematically replacing old, conditioned thoughts with new thoughts or a new filter.

An all-important corollary to this principle is that when we change how we think, we naturally change how we feel. If we think that a given experience is a bad thing, we’ll tend to have negative feelings about it. Yet if for some reason we perceive that the same event as having beneficial results, our feelings about it change. Changing the thoughts changes the feelings.

It is important to recognize that feelings themselves cannot be changed directly. They are a natural result of how we experience our world. They give us important messages from inside of us, helping us to make choices and develop intuition. Sometimes we may try to stuff our feelings or force them to go away, but the results are generally detrimental to ourselves, our bodies, or other people. Yet, when we learn to “reprogram” our perceptions or thoughts, our emotions naturally change, and we enter a powerful world of choice and opportunity.

If having negative thoughts sounds uncomfortably familiar, don’t worry. It is very human. We all operate to a great extent from our conditioned minds. However, the good news is that we can train ourselves over time to operate instead from a position of choice rather that what is automatic. Whether in the arena of relationships, income, business, family, self-esteem, spirituality, or even clarifying our purpose in life, we can learn to restructure our thoughts, and doing so, discover the happiness we all seek.