The Buddha once said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” Earl Nightingale said the strangest secret is, “You become what you think about.” The Bible states, “As a man thinks, so is he.”
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali said, “I AM the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.”
Do you think you can change your life and who you are just by changing your thoughts?
Jon Gordon is one of my favorite authors, and I listen to his podcast, Positive University, regularly. Recently, he interviewed his wife Kathryn on the podcast, and she told an inspiring and encouraging message about how she shifted her mindset by changing her thoughts.
Kathryn was experiencing a rough stretch of life where she found herself complaining a lot, and it was negatively affecting her health and life at home.
What helped her shake this? A Zoom call with a health coach who told her she shared the same genes as Olympic athletes! This call changed her perspective, her thoughts about herself, and her actions.
Kathryn said the health coaching company tested her blood, genes, and DNA, and used that data to determine she has genes similar to an Olympian.
Kathryn instantly went from having negative emotions to feeling like an Olympic athlete, and that gave her the motivation and encouragement to start thinking and acting like one. Jon said Kathryn started walking around the house saying, “I AM an Olympic athlete,” she started thinking like an Olympic athlete, she started exercising, eating better, and stopped complaining. She stopped complaining about being old and being sore, and she started getting more fit, feeling better, and acting more positive.
When Kathryn started saying to herself and believing, “I AM an Olympic athlete, I AM strong, I AM powerful,” everything changed for her, and it changed Jon too. Jon said his life became a lot happier and better when Kathryn became an Olympic athlete because she became so much more positive.
How we think about ourselves can change everything for us and the people around us.
Jon said he shared this message with the University of Texas football team. At the end of the message, he had different athletes stand up and say, “I AM __________,” filling in the blank with their own words after it.
When he was done speaking, he passed by the weight room and he heard their strength and conditioning coach yell, “I AM!” and each athlete responded back, “... my bothers keeper!”
How powerful is that?
I want the same change for myself. I want to feel better and do better. This year, I AM going to take the next step. But what is the next step? What AM I going to be? Who AM I going to become?
At the beginning of this year, I wrote down 5 goals for myself:
I want my wife to say and believe she has the BEST husband.
I want my kids to say and believe they have the BEST parents.
I want to be able to own my time because I am able to write books and stories that encourage, inspire, and motivate millions and that pay millions.
I want to exude all the fruits of the spirit.
I want to be in great shape.
I want to be happy with 365 vacation days each year, and 366 in a leap year.
I am transferring all these into I AM statements:
I AM the best husband.
WE ARE the best parents.
I AM a writer who encourages, inspires, and motivates millions of people.
I AM filled with the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
I AM in great shape.
I AM happy!!!
I AM proactive.
I DO
The next step for me is adding some action to the plan. I am going to take it one step further and add I DO. I AM is a powerful identifier, and I DO is a just as impactful action statement.
I DO hard things.
I DO things my wife and kids love.
I DO things that show that I am filled with the fruit of the spirit.
I DO impact and inspire others.
I DO write and tell inspiring stories.
I DO good things at work and in my community.
I DO things that make me happy!!!
I DO the thing that will help me find success at the highest levels.
I AM helps me better identify with the best version and parts of me. I AM gives me hope. I DO is a reminder of all the great things I already do, and it foretells all the great things I am getting ready to do.
I AM going to continue to grow to become the best version of myself because I DO the work necessary to do so.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1 - Who are you going to be? Write down 5 I AM statements. I wanted to include statements for home, for work, for mental health, for physical health, and for spiritual health.
2 - What are you going to do? For each I AM statement, write an I DO statement. I included a few others that would help me become the person I want to become.
3 - Do the work!!
Set a time to look at the statements at least once a day or once a week. Right now, set a time in your phone. My time is 7:57 AM every morning. I chose this time because if I have an 8:00 AM meeting, I’ll have enough time to quickly read them before the meeting. I took a screenshot of the statements so they are easy to access.
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