At any given point in the day, I’m just one thought away from losing it and going over the edge! At the very same time I’m just one thought away from being ecstatically happy.

Last Sunday I was rear ended by a car while standing at a red light. I took a second, got out of the car, smiled and walked over to the other driver. With a lighthearted attitude I asked if she was okay, and asked her if she’d like to pull over around the corner to clear room for traffic.

I asked her if she would like to have a police report made, or handle it ourselves. She didn’t care either way. Luckily she had Geico, which facilitated me getting into a rental car within 10 minutes of walking into their shop, and a 24 hour turnaround for the fix!

I could have gotten angry, stormed out of my car, asked her if she was a complete idiot, degraded her for wasting my time, and perhaps even threatened her. Yes, this would be very extreme, but it would have been a result of just one thought, much like my lighthearted attitude was the result of one thought.

Thoughts are a Choice

Above I gave an example of how we can choose to respond with class, instead of reacting with temper. While this example is obvious, and many people can openly relate, it’s not the only place where we make choices. Everything in life is how we choose to think about it.

“As long as you have to think, you might as well think big. It takes the same amount of energy.”
~Donald Trump

Donald Trump has lost billions of dollars. On the other hand, he has also made billions of dollars. The reason being is that he has given himself permission to think big, risk big, and pursue mega deals in his career.

Most of our decisions in life are based on whether or not we can give ourselves permission to tackle the big things. Whether or not we give ourselves permission is based on the amount of courage and self-esteem that we possess.

Look at a person like Erin Pavlina ^[1], who at one point only gave herself permission to earn barely $10/hr as a secretary. After growing her talent as a psychic, and building up a tremendous following, she now gives herself the permission to charge $800/hr for an in person reading (and people are happily lined up around the corner for her service). That’s 2 weeks of income in just 1 hour as compared to where she was before.

A tremendous leap like this comes simply from thinking a certain way. First she had to give herself the permission to pursue her talent, versus answering phones, then to improve her skill through practice and learning. Finally she had to see that being booked for months means that she can give herself the permission to charge what she’s worth at the time.

In life, and in your business, you may also be stuck because of a situation where you aren’t giving yourself the permission to think big. Do you possess the knowledge and skills to be your own boss, but instead you’re letting your boss make more money from you than you make from yourself? Can you give yourself the permission to deserve better friends, better relationships, and a better lifestyle than your parents, or perhaps just better than what you have now?

What’s the difference between entry level and CEO, or between employee and boss? Is it not just giving yourself the permission to succeed, learning everything there is to do the job, and taking risks that other are not willing to?

Remember, if you’re going to listen to conventional wisdom, and follow everyone else’s advice, then you’re probably going to get the same results as everyone else. If you decide that’s not good enough for you anymore, make your own rules.

^[2] Tweet This Post ^[2]