In my life, there have been foundational beliefs, ideas and principles that have helped me achieve success in many respects. I’ve benefited from different schools of thought and learned from mentors of all different backgrounds and ideologies. The way I live my life and the content I share on @thinkgrowprosper are a reflection of these different points of view.
Interestingly, although I spend much of my time writing and curating content about various personal growth philosophies, I realized the other day that I couldn’t point to a well-defined, cohesive set of ideas, principles or beliefs that represented my personal life philosophy in a nutshell.
The idea of writing a "TGP credo" excited me, so I typed out a stream-of-consciousness list of all the concepts I believe in and that have made the most impact on my life. When I finished writing, I had about 30 things on my list. As I studied the list, I realized every item fell into one of three main categories.
As I laid in bed that night, I let my mind wander over everything I had written down. And just before I fell asleep, the following sentence flashed into my brain:
“I believe in creating my own reality, feeding my mind good stuff, and doing what excites me.”
These seemed to be the overarching philosophies that outlined what I believe and what I share with you all here and on my Instagram @thinkgrowprosper.
In this post, I’ll unpack what each part of this credo means to me and how it drives what I do and how I think. Hopefully you’ll be able to pick out a few tidbits that will help you in your own life.
I believe in creating my own reality.
Over the years, I’ve experienced firsthand how powerful our minds are. I’ve learned that they make excellent servants, but terrible masters. One of the first major breakthroughs in my own personal transformation came about when I became aware of the concept that my thoughts affect how I experience the world around me. That what I focus on grows. That the more energy I give to thoughts of doubt, fear, lack and negativity, the more I will experience those things in various forms in my life.
At the same time, I also learned the opposite is true. The more energy I gave to thoughts of belief, love, abundance and positivity, the more I would experience those things in various forms in my life.
I realized that I create meaning in my life by how I define my experiences. And since my perspective is only one of seven billion other perspectives, that means there are no “correct” ones, only those that serve me and those that do not.
I believe in feeding my mind good stuff.
This belief comes from the understanding that we become what we consume. Everything from the books we read, to the movies we watch, to the conversations we engage in, to the food we eat, to the way we talk to ourselves, all shape the person we become. It’s all information that is stored in our minds and in the cells of our bodies, slowly but surely influencing the people we grow to be.
Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.
You are what you eat.
Garbage in, garbage out.
These are all axioms that are embedded into our society. These concepts exists in virtually every culture in some form or another. Why? Because we intuitively know that we become what we consume. Therefore, I choose to feed my mind good stuff.
I believe in doing what excites me.
I’ve learned that the things that excite us are not random. They are connected to our path, passion, and purpose in life and we need to follow them. (I expand on this in my article about Finding Your "Passion.")
The most powerful action we can take is to move in the direction of what sparks joy in us. Even when we can’t see how it’s connected to our larger goals. Even when it seems silly or nonsensical. Even when we think we “should” be doing something else. The excitement tells you that it is the right move.
Every time I have ever been truly honest with myself about what excites me and followed that thread with integrity and no expectation of the outcome, it has led me to wonderful things. Things that I couldn’t even have conceived of. Things that were better than my original goal. Like the time I started an IG on a whim and ended up building this wonderful community of almost 3 million people. Or the time I pursued a curly haired co-worker who later became my fiancée and business partner.
It turns out that play is a big part of success. The more fun you have with life, the easier it is to mold your reality. We often create resistance and stagnation in our lives with our incessant worries and our need to control everything. Don’t give in to it. Relax and go do something you are excited about.
Of course, within each of these three broad tenets exist other more granular concepts and strategies, which make up the entire TGP approach that I write about on my Instagram @thinkgrowprosper.
Do you have a life philosophy or credo? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!