Quantum physics tells us that reality is far beyond human perception and intuition. In other words, our rational mind and common sense are just not capable of understanding the true nature of reality. – Albert Einstein
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. (Sign hanging in Einstein’s office at Princeton)
We see the world through the lens of our own reality.
Napoleon Hill interviewed the most successful people in the United States and created his laws of success, based on what these leaders shared with him about how they became successful. The list of people he interviewed is amazing! On the list are Edison, Ford, Wanamaker, Woolworth, Carnegie, Roosevelt (2), Wilson, and Schwab, among many others. The consistent themes are what he wrote about.
Each person created their own reality by imagining the future and creating a statement Hill called “Definiteness of Purpose.” It’s like a singular, powerful goal. They also envisioned the goal as having been accomplished and kept that image in their conscious mind. This eliminated any negative thinking. Hill discovered that the mind cannot hold a positive and a negative thought at the same time.
We all create our own reality – good and bad. How many times have you created a reality of fear when there was no reason to fear? In fact, maybe that fear was proven to be false over time. How much time and energy was wasted by creating that negative reality?
Here are some areas for creating positive thinking and moving toward creating your own reality:
- Beliefs – As a performer, I learned very early that believing in success brings success. If I thought that I was going to make a mistake, it was almost like willing that mistake to happen – like forgetting the memorized music or playing wrong notes. Once I crossed over the barrier to believing in my own success, the difference was amazing. As leaders, we compromise our results by not believing in our own success. Thinking about negative results transfers to others nonverbally.
- Actions – As adult leaders, are we making our own decisions or making decisions based on what we were taught as children? This sounds silly, however, I work with leaders who are acting on the principles taught to them as children. Their reality is that they have not developed their own principles for living as adults.
- Feelings – Are we responding to people and situations, or are we reacting? Responding is thinking, while reacting is feeling. As leaders, it is important to remain in our thinking selves and not be in our feeling selves. Feeling colors our reality, while thinking and observing clarifies what’s happening and what the response should be.
- Images – Images are thoughts. We see the world as who we are through our own reality. In creating teams, we realize that each person does not see the world as we see it, so we take advantage of diverse viewpoints. In teaching team creation, I review the instruments of the orchestra. There are some instruments that are “transposing” instruments. These instruments sound a different pitch than the pitch written on the music. The conductor must know that and accommodate for that transposition. We think about how the culture should be and then create it through effective leadership.
Always question what is considered truth.
Stay calm when conflict arises, and speak directly and promptly to the issue or situation.
Observe to be sure of what’s happening and stay out of making assumptions.
We attract what we are and not what we need. – James Allen (edited)
Be the reality that you want to be by creating it – despite what Einstein said.
Hugh Ballou
The Transformational Leadership Strategist
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