In elementary school, during a Biology class, the teacher was explaining the nervous system. I remember this vividly because she said and demonstrated something that has stuck with me to this day, profoundly changing how I think and act.
“When you move your hand,” she said, moving her hand in random directions, “the movement starts as information in your mind first.”
Every movement of your body is the result of a thought process that begins in your mind.
This reminds me of a scene in The Matrix, where Morpheus asks Neo if he believes in fate. Neo replies: “No, because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.”
Why is this important
The situation you are in, the food you eat, the time you spend and so on can be altered. By reflecting on your life’s history, you can edit the way you think about individual actions and reshape patterns to improve them.
Simply being aware that you have a choice can drastically reroute the trajectory of your life.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.” – Victor Frankl
Practice
Start by recording all your actions and their outcomes non-judgmentally over a set period of time. Use this data to identify habits to replace and new ones to cultivate. Awareness is the foundation of change.
Keys To Remember
Everything you do stems from a thought process.