Think about the building you’re in right now. Did some guy just start nailing boards together without a plan and – poof – the building appeared?
Or, did an architect come up with detailed drawings and plans for the building before the first shovel of dirt was turned over?
Unless you live in a weird, lumpy shack, my guess is it probably went down the second way. Before the building was created in the world you can see and touch, it was first created in someone’s mind.
Likewise, if you want to get to a different place in your life or business, you have to see and feel that new place FIRST!
That’s what the topic of today’s blog post is about-a concept we call “Thinking from the End.”
Reality-based Thinking will Keep you Stuck
Most people are totally unaware that they have the power to create their own reality.
They’ve been taught to focus on what they see around them, so they base their thinking completely on what they see and hear around them.
In other words, they engage in “reality-based thinking”–all of their thoughts and feelings are about what is currently happening in their reality.
When things are going bad, their thoughts are all about that bad situation.
When things are going well, they’re a lot happier-for a short while.
The problem with “reality-based” thinking is that it creates more of the same results in your life. You become a slave to what’s going on around you.
For example, if you’re always thinking about how you’re struggling to make ends meet, and continuing to tell that story, guess what’s going to keep happening..?
Put Your Windshield In Front of You
Imagine driving down the road with your windshield on the bottom of your car instead of towards the front.
Reality-based thinking is like having the windshield on the bottom of your car instead of in front of you.
Can you imagine trying to drive with your windshield on the BOTTOM of your car?
You’d be constantly staring down at where you are instead of looking ahead at where you’re driving. You’d come to a grinding halt. You’d be too afraid to drive because you couldn’t see what’s coming up!
This is exactly what Reality-based Thinking does to you; it paralyzes you, makes you feel frustrated and stuck.
You can tell when someone is not able to shift their perspective away from the floorboard of their car. They will talk a lot about “What is.”
You will hear them say things like: “Business is really slow this month.” “No matter how hard I work, I can’t get ahead.”
Maybe they say things like, “I’m always going to have to work for someone else. ” OR “I‘m never going to make enough money.”
Thinking from the End=Freedom
Many have not learned that they can choose what they want to imagine instead of being a slave to what they see and hear.
Have you noticed that some people succeed no matter the conditions they find themselves in?
During times of economic downturn, like the one we just had, there were people who thrived.
Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, there were people who thrived financially.
Even during the Great Depression during the 1930s, there were businesses that thrived. They knew how to Think from the End.
All their competitors focused on the shortage and struggle around them–they did a lot of Reality-based Thinking.
So they withered away and became another footnote of the Depression.
But the people who thrived during those hard times learned how to “think from the end.”
So what is Thinking from the End, really?
Instead of doing so much “Reality-based Thinking,” start practicing what we call “Thinking from the End.”
Thinking from the end is focusing on the vision of what you want, even if it’s not where you are right now.
It means ignoring reality and focusing on where you want to go instead.
People who understand “thinking from the end” often turn off the news. They know that watching stories about what’s going wrong just feeds those negative images to their brain.
They have the belief that no matter what is going on around them, even if other people everywhere around them are struggling, they can create success.
An example of Thinking from the End
Let’s say one of your dreams is to move out of a home office and create the money to afford a beautiful new office space and a team of people to support you.
If you wake up every morning and notice that you don’t have the money for all that yet, you’ll be frustrated.
You’ll be engaging in more “reality-based thinking.”
You can’t get to where you really want to be if you keep focusing on where you are now!!!
Instead, wake up every morning and practice visualizing or imagining the new office down to every detail.
See the shining faces of the people you’re working with. Imagine them as so happy to be there with you.
Feel appreciation for the space and the perfect proximity to your house.
NOTE: It’s really important to feel the feelings of joy and excitement you get when concentrate on this vivid picture of success. This will trigger your emotional brain-the part of your brain that’s the powerhouse of your behavior.
Just keep mentally practicing the images of what you want over and over again. See them down to the last detail.
If you sit down and do this playful imagining for just 10-15 minute a day, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can change your feelings.
With enough practice, you’ll tune your thoughts away from where you are right now towards where you’re going.
Your brain will start to feed you impulses that help you decide where to go next. You will get an intuition to call this person, read this article, look into this option, etc.
In other words, you will spring into action to move towards that vision.
To be clear: creating this vision of what you want probably won’t happen overnight. That’s why you have to practice thinking and feeling the images of it regularly.
But Thinking from the End is a heck of a lot better way to approach your life than Reality-based Thinking.
Not only does it FEEL better as you do it, but it is the only way to create different results in your life!