What a simple concept to think about.  Your Thoughts Determine Your Life.  It’s true.  There is nothing more simple than this, yet the overwhelming majority of people never subscribe to this line of thought.  This topic popped into my mind this morning because It was extra hard to get out of bed this morning.  My AC was pumping and the covers just felt to damn comfortable.  I kept hitting the snooze button once again, and I realized that my thoughts were inhibiting me from getting up out of bed and starting the beautiful day ahead.  The moment I become AWARE of  my thoughts, I finally jumped out of bed and got started.  This is only a small example of the power of how you think will determine what you do or ACT upon.

The billionaires out there know this secret, as well as the millionaires looking to become billionaires, just like the Hundred thousandaires looking to becoming millionaires.  It doesn’t matter where you are now.  If your thoughts are only as big as a $50,000 a year salary, then you will remain at a $50,000 a year salary.  There will not be a lucky break.  If anything, there will most likely be an un-lucky event that you will attribute to a occurance you couldn’t control.  The reality is, you can control everything in your life by controlling your thoughts.  This powerful realization will seem foreign to many of you, just as it did when I first was exposed to it.  I am still learning how to control my thoughts, but I have made huge strides towards unlocking the power than is within myself, and the power that is within anyone, if they choose to constantly work to control their thoughts and behaviors.

In a much larger example of the power of our thoughts, I would like to give an example that for me has changed the way I live my life, and increased the quality of living from a mental happiness standpoint.  Out of college, I DECIDED to enter the accounting profession and through my efforts throughout college, landed the best job any accountant could hope for, to work for one of the big 4 accounting firms, Deloitte & Touche, LLP.  At the time, I was dazzled by the size of the company, and the compensation plans that they had to offer.  As the first year went on, I realized what the accounting world was all about, and realized that it was not for me.  By this time, I had lots of debt piled up, and needed a job with that high of income to support myself.  I left Deloitte & Touche LLP a year and a half later, and joined a much smaller firm that would afford me more work like balance.  The first was Seward and Monde, LLP.  Seward and Monde, LLP was a great experience, and the culture of the company is very conducive to having a work life balance.  At first, I enjoyed the newly found time, but found myself feeling the same way I did when I was at Deloitte & Touche, LLP.

This is where I realized that I needed to SHIFT my thoughts and feelings to a new and uncomfortable level if I was going to change my circumstances.  I never used to write a diary or blog when I was younger, but since I began to shift my thoughts and feelings to think differently and prepare myself for the changes that lie ahead, I found a lot of ulitily in writing my thoughts down on a piece of paper.  I also write all of my GOALS and ACTION steps down on a daily basis to bring my thoughts to a REALITY.  I began to read a lot of books from authors who were considered the gold standard of the industry of self discovery, and I came across some gems:

• Think and Grow Rich
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The Secret
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Alchemist

Those were but a few of the many books I read and continue to read that have made a huge impact.  On a daily basis, I listen to the Secret on audio CD while I drive, and it continually keeps my mind focussed on my thoughts. 

But back to the accounting job and shifting my thoughts.  As I read the above books and begun to fill my mind with confidence, I realized one thing that all the books had in common.  FEAR was a common theme in the sense that FEAR was the number one reason why people do not even THINK of ACT upon any of their dreams and ideas.  The FEAR of failure or the FEAR of change prohibits most people from even taking the first step.  They would rather remain in their current comfort zone, where they are obviously not happy, than even give true happiness a chance.  That is the main thing I got out of my reading, and it has changed the way I do things.

So while at Seward and Monde, LLP, I decided I needed to get over my FEAR of failure in the real estate industry.  In order to get rid of this fear, I decided to utilized my free time after work to begin a property management and leasing business.  It all began when an investor friend of mine who owned a house in Southington decided to rent her house.  She knew that I was a realtor, so she wanted me to put the house on craigslist and do some advertising.  A funny thing happened.  I placed her house on the website and the same day I received 10 phone calls of interested renters.  I thought to myself, there is something to this.  I went out the next day in New Britain, and called 10 for rent signs.  Out of the 10, I was able to convince three of them to help them rent their property.  Out of the three, they had a total of 10 units to rent!  I continued gaining clients, advertising on craigslist, and a funny thing started to happen.  As a part-time rental agent, I began to earn an extra $1,000 – $2,000 a month in income!  My confidence was soaring, and my fear was fading.

This started in November of 2009, and in a matter of three short months, I was able to get about 70 – 80 units that I was in charge of renting out.  This call volume at this point was getting to be ridiculous, and I knew that it was time to leave.  So three months after starting this part-time business, I left my job at Seward and Monde, LLP on February 15th, and was able to get started right away.  Since then, my thoughts were correct in the fact that I would only rent out more properties, and I have sustained my previous income at my accounting job.  The income is not the most important piece though.  The fact is, I have never been happier in a profession than I am right now.  My mental state of mind is the best it has ever been, but there is still room for improvement.

The point of that story is to show you how by changing my thoughts, I was able to change my circumstance.  No longer was I behind a desk in an office crunching numbers.  I was now writing my own history book on the Life of Manny in Hartford.  It just goes to show, and any excuse you are making to yourself for not following your dreams, is all because you are being held back by your Fear, or in other words, by your Thoughts.  YOUR THOUGHTS DETERMINE YOUR LIFE!