Controlled By Outside Circumstances?

As Hill presses forward in his “interview” with the Devil, he’s able to uncover something that may seem overly simple at first glance but truly has the power to help us overcome all of those fears we’ve looked at leading up to this point!

When he forces the Devil to explain his process for assuming more and more control over someone (causing them to drift), Hill receives the following response:

“A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind. He would rather let me occupy his mind and do his thinking than go to the trouble of thinking for himself. A drifter accepts whatever life throws in his way without making a protest or putting up a fight.”

What does this have to do with the faith we looked at in the last blog as part of Your Personal Success Equation? EVERYTHING!

Thomas Edison, one of the men Hill studied closely during his years of research leading up to Think & Grow Rich, has been quoted as saying “Only 5% of people think; 10% of the people think they think; and the other 85% would rather die than think.”

The more we allow those outside circumstances to consume our thoughts, the more susceptible we are to those fears we looked at as we started down this path; the fear of illness, the fear of death, and the fear of poverty being the top on the Devil’s list! And I don’t think many today would argue that each of those fears have taken significant control of so many in the world around us…

Before he ever starts laying out the “interview” with the Devil, Hill stated that “Your only limitation is the one which you set up in your own mind.” Soon after that, Hill emphasized that “Every individual has the power to change his or her material or financial status by first changing the nature of his beliefs.”

As we each move forward through these extremely uncertain circumstances over the weeks and months ahead, I believe we’d all do well to take Hill’s message to heart! We need to be extremely aware of what we’re allowing to occupy our thoughts and direct our focus. As we’re intentional about maintaining strict control of what we focus on, we should be just as dedicated to sharpening a belief in our own abilities to lead our teams through these uncertain waters. And as our belief in creating a positive outcome builds, so will our faith in the impact we can have on the people around us!

If you’re reading these words, and have read any of the half-dozen or so blogs leading up to this one, someone is counting on you to be the person they can follow through this! Don’t let them down! There’s too much of that going on around us already…