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Create Positive Thought
While it is true that human beings seem to be hard-wired for certain personality traits and hard talents (e.g., math, music, sports), it’s also true that the human brain is remarkably adaptable, throughout a person’s lifetime. One of the unique things about human beings is our ability to make choices about how we think – which in turn produce changes in life circumstances. Bob Arnot, M.D. explains some of the critical biology behind the power of conscious thought in The Biology of Success: “A whole new school of psychiatry has grown up around the development of positive thinking,” he says. “The key is interrupting negative thoughts. Surprisingly, no matter how positive we think we are, many of us have internal, mostly negative chatter that ties up the cerebral circuits all day long.” “Cognitive therapy (editor's note: along with mindful thinking ,meditation, and a variety of contemplative practices) teaches you to catch the negative thoughts in this gnawing pitter-patter and substitute much more reasonable, reassuring, and, most important, more accurate thoughts (about circumstances in your life, your abilities, chances of success, etc) . . .” “Cognitive therapy is based on the theory that peoples’ emotions are controlled by their views and opinions of the world . . . Using the old standard PET scan, researchers noticed that patients who engaged in cognitive therapy (editor's note: this is also the case of experienced meditators) had changes just as marked on the PET scan as patients taking Prozac. This shows that positive thinking on its own can change the way your brain functions . . . first, new and important connections are created between one set of neurons and another; second, even without drugs, cognitive therapy (editor's note: and meditation) increases levels of neurotransmitters that battle depression and anxiety (and doubt).” Mindful thinking, meditation and cognitive therapy are examples of structured, guided processes that help people change the way they perceive things. As Wayne Dyer says in The Power of Intention “change the way you see things, and the things you see, change.” The possibility thinking that is essential to any kind of success, money making included, can be cultivated by these variations on the theme of conscious choice-making: * Learn optimism
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