Thought Power

The premise that our thoughts today become our actions of tomorrow holds a lot of truth. Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe the apparently accidental events that propel us in a desired direction. Propel is a great description because it’s like the power of our thoughts creates a ‘slingshot effect’ similar to that of a spacecraft as it gets an enormous boost from looping around a planet. Synchronicity is like that. We are going along in one direction then our new intentions create an energy and we experience a powerful boost from somewhere as our acceleration towards what we want increases and we take actions as if they are being driven sub-consciously. So those fortuitous meetings, happy accidents, chance encounters, hands of destiny .. and so on. Are they just coincidences or predictable outcomes of the sub conscious power of our intentions?

One of my clients recently came to the realisation that her work was unfulfilling and she created a vision for what she really wanted to do instead, her passion was evident. A week later I spoke with her and she described the following events. The day after our coaching appointment she had bumped into her previous boss at a conference and they started chatting. Somehow the topic of conversation drifted onto work and it transpired that her old boss had sold his business and started a new company involving just the area she wanted to work in; she was offered a job on the spot and accepted the post immediately! Next day she was drafting her resignation letter from her current job when the phone rang and she was summoned to a meeting with the HR Manager. At the meeting it was explained that the business was undergoing some changes and she was asked if she would consider taking voluntary redundancy (involving a generous settlement!). She accepted straight away, went back to her office and binned her letter! So was this just a series of pure coincidences or was this the power of her new vision and intentions influencing not just her own actions but also the actions of others? Who knows, but in light of the possibilities it becomes important to take a closer look at how pessimism and optimism could alter outcomes. These two common but very different ways of thinking are poles apart. Our imagination and how we think about the future affects our frame of mind, how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about the world around us. What we imagine will happen drives what we do and what we achieve as our thoughts turn to actions and become self-fulfilling prophesies. For example holding optimistic thoughts has been shown in many studies to dramatically improve recovery rates and outcomes from illnesses and injuries. “An optimist may see a light where there is none but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?” Thinking requires ‘energy’ and what we think about channels energy. The energy of optimism is channelled into making the optimistic vision become reality; it leads us to take actions that are directed towards getting what we want. On the other hand the energy of pessimism is about worse case scenarios which ironically can then become self-fulfilling although they are the things we don’t want. The owner of pessimistic thoughts is often then justified in their gloomy outlook by their worst fears becoming true. It’s perhaps interesting to note that both pessimistic thinkers and their optimistic counterparts equally stake claim to being realists. This is of course true because both tend to get what they think about! So be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

So can we choose our thoughts or are we stuck with them? I often hear people saying “So and so is a born optimist” or “So and so is a born pessimist”. Somehow I doubt this is how it works although I suppose a scientist someday may claim to have discovered the gene for optimism or for pessimism. I suspect that what is more likely is that we run both ‘tracks’ of thought (often depending on mood and recent events). Over time we then practice one way of thinking more than another and we get better at it (practice makes permanent – or is that being pessimistic!) Consequently it becomes easier and more natural to take an optimistic or a pessimistic view depending on which we have spent most time practising. Its also likely that as children we learn to use one track more than another, the track being largely influenced by the ‘models’ provided by the key people in our lives. I’ve noticed that pessimistic thought patterns often seem to run in families as they get passed on through generations. I’ve also noticed it in whole organisations often driven by the default thinking styles at the top! It is therefore important to choose carefully the thinking style you practice in the knowledge that not only will you get better at it but also you could pass it on to others! What an inheritance!

Jeff Gill ICF Credentialed Coach info@betterbalance.co.uk



Thought Power - To learn more about this author, visit Jeff Gill's Website.

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