“Your thoughts will become what you say… Your thoughts will become your actions.” – I.C. Robledo
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on personal development and self-help. Some offer strategies and philosophies to guide your life and/or provide a foundation for your beliefs. Others offer a wide array of tactics for living your best daily life. We’ve also seen a number of books highlighting the value of meditation and/or mindfulness in our life’s journey.
I.C. Robledo has taken an approach that seems to blend the best of these ideas. Rather than provide mere tactics, he points to a series of thoughts that can be foundational. Yet, they are more than just foundational truths. These seven ideas are thoughts that can act as daily triggers or reminders and launching points for a successful life. Briefly, you may be reminded of books such as 10% Happier, that espouse the values of meditation. Robledo writes that these seven thoughts come from his time and experience in meditation.
So, what are these seven thoughts that are proclaimed to be the key seven thoughts for living life?
- Focus on what you can control, not what you cannot control.
- Focus on the positive, not the negative.
- Focus on what you can do, not on what you cannot do.
- Focus on what you have, not on what you do not have.
- Focus on the present, not on the past or the future.
- Focus on what you need, not on what you want.
- Focus on what you can give, not on what you can take.
Robledo explains that it is so easy for our minds to become a destructive force by focusing on all of our mistakes and missteps. Some of us spend so much time focused on these negative experiences that our minds have no time or energy to construct the future we so desperately want. The key, as Robledo explains, is in holding to these positive thoughts and not falling back into the old thoughts and patterns that can so readily lead to anxiety and depression.
Early in the book, Robledo also takes a moment to describe his three ingredients for living the good life. This short (only a few pages) section of the book acts as a preface for the remainder of the book but I think they could also be bookends – a preface and a conclusion. Robledo writes that we need three things to live a good life: Purpose, success, and happiness. Purpose is our why. Why are we here? Why do we do what we do? I am reminded of the wildly successful book, The Purpose Driven Life. We all want a life that has meaning. Of course, a measure of success is valuable to all of us, but it will be defined differently for each of us. Robledo suggests that when we combine our energy with our moral values and our purpose, we will find success. Finally, he shares a quote from Ghandi: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”