"Do You Ever Think About the Way You Think?

As a follow up to my last post about working with people on public assistance-When I am training these folks, this is one of the questions that I ask them-"Do you ever think about the way that you think?" None of them has ever been asked this question. I ask them-why do you have the bad habits, the negative attitudes, the self-limiting beliefs, and minimal expectations for a successful future? It is because of the way that they have been influenced/conditioned by their families and by their environments. They expect to fail because no one has ever taught them to believe in themselves and their incredible, un-tapped potential.

What does society say to them? If you are African-American, female, and poor, then you must not be very smart. Of course this is not true-it is pure nonsense, but many of them believe it.

Because they have such a low opinion of themselves, I help them to see that they are in fact intelligent, capable human beings who can use their gifts to succeed in their chosen career field. This is the point where lasting change occurs-and it has little to do with the amount of money the government spends on them.

Come to think of it, this applies to all of us, doesn't it? As the saying goes-"We are what we think."

Henry Ford said it best-"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right."