What do you actually know? is the age-old question of philosophers and statesmen. A good answer, but not the only answer, is that you know what you have learned and experienced in the past.
How can you know if you haven't learnt it, or remembered that experience? Which implies your mind only knows your previous events. Your regular, random, unrequested thoughts and emotions are based on the past. They're memories.
Even when you think about the future, those thoughts project some variation of the past. They anticipate what might happen, yet are not real in any sense of the word. They're speculations.
Which suggests the mind's thinking about the future is just some processed extrapolation of the past. What is this known as? More of the Same!
How to change the future
If you want to change your life, your future to be different, then discover how to stop self-sabotage. Learn to think thoughts that support you, positive ones. The sooner you overcome your self-sabotage mechanism, the sooner your future will change.
Start changing your thoughts right now, NOT tomorrow. Why? Because, in a very real sense, tomorrow never comes, it's always now. Now is the only moment there ever is. Anything else is just a memory or a speculation about a different time, but you are still thinking that now!
Since thoughts just seem to come, how can you think differently? You can't do much to change your thoughts directly, but you can change your context. Without changing where you come from, how can you change your life? Change your perspective to become more effective!
Improve Your Thoughts
In a very real sense, you need to change your thoughts to change your life. As this unidentified author says:
"In sports, on the tennis court, we know how to do this. Success only comes by not allowing the past to influence our next shot. Since success is measured by winning or losing games, it's crucial not to let the past dictate the future."
This is also crucial in life. One measure of success is how you feel inside. But what determines how good you feel? You feel better when you decide your path, rather than let the self-sabotage mechanism and the thoughts it gives you determine your path. So learn how to improve your thoughts in real life.
In the past, perhaps you have allowed thoughts of procrastination to determine, to sabotage your actions. The questions to ask yourself here are: "Does this work for me?" "Will it bring me the results that I seek?"
If your answer is yes, then do it; If not, then do NOT do it! So simple, yet not necessarily easy!
Another related article you might like is #3 in this self-sabotage series: The power in Skepticism, the weakness of Cynics and the Gullible.
© Copyright worldwide Cris Baker, www.LifeStrategies.net All rights reserved. Republishing welcomed under Creative Commons noncommercial no derivatives license preserving all links intact, so please +1 and share this widely!
Food for Thought
"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where [today's] thoughts take you."
- James Allen, (1864-1912) inspirational English author and philosopher
Cris Baker has much practice in overcoming adversity, he's been screwing things up for years! Why suffer the consequences of your own mistakes? Now you can benefit from real knowledge, crucial know-how gained from his vast experience with extensive pain and suffering!
You'll find enormous joy in overcoming your self-sabotage; check out changing your context at Life Strategies to discover how to change your life!