In The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz writes, “Your mind is a thought factory. It’s a busy factory, producing countless thoughts in one day.”
He goes on to write that production in your thought factory is the responsibility of two foremen—Mr. Triumph who manufactures positive thoughts and Mr. Defeat who is of course married to Debbie Downer.
“Both Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat are intensely obedient,” Schwartz writes, “All you need do to signal either foreman is to give the slightest mental beck and call.”
He goes on to say, to see how these two foremen are working for you every day tell yourself, “‘Today is a lousy day.’ This signals Mr. Defeat into action, and he manufactures some facts to prove you are right.”
“But tell yourself, ‘today is a fine day,'” Schwartz continues, “and Mr. Triumph is signaled forward to act. He tells you, ‘This is a wonderful day.'”
Your Mind Is A Muscle
As you know from reading these newsletters, your mind is a muscle which grows stronger according to how you use it, and Schwartz’s foremen are the same way.
As he puts it, “If Mr. Defeat is given more work to do, he adds personnel and takes up more space in your mind,” and he will ultimately take over your entire thought factory.
“The only wise thing to do,” counsels Schwartz, “is fire Mr. Defeat.”
He only stands in the way of doing what you want, so why do you want him messing around in your thought factory?
Instead, as Schwartz advises, “Use Mr. Triumph 100 percent of the time. When any thought enters your mind, ask Mr. Triumph to go to work for you. He’ll show you how you can succeed.”
How?
To put this idea into practice, take out a piece of paper or a sticky note or anything else you will read every day, and write my First Rule of Mind Control—
I ONLY THINK ABOUT WHAT I WANT!