What did you think when you read: “it all starts with a thought”? Did you think, I don’t believe that? Did you think uh oh, this is going to be weird? I want to spend some time on this, because how you feel about that statement makes a huge difference to how you read my posts. If you don’t believe the statement: “it all starts with a thought” is true, then all of the tools, the ideas, the skills I share with you, are just entertainment.
Please really think about this statement: “It all starts with a thought.” We are going to go deep on this. Sometimes the thought is a subconscious thought, but everything we do comes from a thought we have. Getting out of bed in the morning to brushing our teeth. It’s the menial tasks we do daily to the big thoughts! When we’re sitting down coming up with something we want to accomplish or improve at, or something new we want to try. We are formulating a thought. Our decisions stem from our thoughts. Either consciously or on a subconscious level. This is an elementary truth, but most people don’t realize how powerful this elementary truth is.
My mission is about thinking about your thinking from a biblical standpoint. God gave us a thinking brain and free will. I believe the Bible is God’s truth. I believe if we study God’s word and apply it in our lives it establishes our character. It’s the truth we build our thoughts on which we build our life on. I believe if we align our thoughts with God’s truths, we will experience God’s best for ourselves. I don’t just believe this, I’ve lived it out personally.
I don’t believe in the woo-woo stuff. When people call it the Universe and call it the higher power, or this is my truth; I don’t believe any of that. I believe all of that stuff people say in the personal development world gives the study of personal growth and development a bad name. That’s my opinion.
Ok back to the topic: “It all starts with a thought.” I want you to challenge yourself with this. When you do something no matter how small or how big, I want you to become aware that it starts with a thought. Because we make so many decisions so quickly, a lot of our thoughts and actions are happening so fast, like automatically, and we don’t think about it. It’s our habit, our patterns, our way of operating in this world.
To explain further, I was introduced to this idea a long time ago. How our conscious thoughts move into our subconscious. For example, when we first learned to drive a car, we thought about each step. Putting the key in the ignition, to putting it into gear, having our foot on the break then the gas, to turning the steering wheel, and learning how to drive down the middle of our lane. We were very aware of each piece. Over time the more we drove a car we became so comfortable with the process we quit thinking about each piece. We just do it. The process moved from our conscious mind to our subconscious. We do the whole process automatically.
So, what is the value of “It all starts with a thought”? If you can wrap your head around this idea, this will change the way you are experiencing your life. Everything from your spiritual life to your relationship with your spouse, your family and personal relationships, to your entrepreneurial life/career, to your health. This is a foundational truth. “It all starts with a thought.”
Is this a new idea for you? Most people are never taught this. Once you grasp this, your thinking will change. This is a powerful tool. Most people believe it’s all random, that life is happening and you are who you are because of what happened to you in your past—even as far back as childhood. People often believe we are a product of our environment. We may be influenced by these factors, but they are not the ultimate decision.
There is a very important part, a second part, of this that is actually the game changer if we can wrap our heads around this. As a human with a thinking brain, this is the key piece. When we have thoughts, we give thoughts a meaning. It’s how the brain works. Our brain’s primary purpose is to keep us alive. It’s called the survival brain. We give meanings to our thoughts all the time. We’ve been doing this our whole life. The question we have got to ask ourselves is how accurate is the meaning we gave these things. It’s been scientifically proven that if we experience trauma, something that happens when we are in a fear state, we ingrain the meaning even stronger. The question is do the meanings we gave some of these experiences serving us now?
This applies to past experiences, present thoughts, and future ideas. It all begins with a thought!
It is said that we have about 60,000 thoughts a day that move through our mind. We obviously can’t ponder every thought. But what I want you to do is be aware. Some of these thoughts are dominant and are directing our lives; our day-to-day decisions and what we believe about our present circumstances and our future.
This is what the Bible says in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The purpose of this instruction is to help us, as believers, to overcome anxiety and focus our minds on positive, God-pleasing virtues that can transform our attitudes and actions!
What does this mean and how can we use this? Let’s apply it here. When I started with the statement “A bigger and better future.” I want you to get out your journal and write those words down. Here is where the magic happens. This statement allows your brain to come up with thoughts. It gives your brain the opportunity to get out of the past. It allows our brain to play. You are directing your mind to creative intentional thoughts. Our minds are designed to create, to daydream to be useful. When we were children, we did this all the time with our thoughts. We did this when we were playing, when we were making stuff up. When we were using our imagination. We were letting our brains wonder. I can’t stress enough how powerful this is! I want you to write down all that comes to your mind when you ask yourself: “What does my bigger and better future look like?” Really play with this idea. You’ll be amazed at what will come up for you. Your brain will tell you what your deepest desires are. This should be a fun exercise. You are practicing thinking about your thinking.
Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, starts with a thought. I know some of you might be rolling your eyes thinking, “Here she goes again,” but stick with me!
When I say, “it all starts with a thought,” I’m not talking about some woo-woo universe magic. I’m talking about real, practical, biblical truth. God gave us this incredible brain that can literally create our reality through the way we think.
Like the example I gave you about driving a car, remember when you first learned? You were hyper-aware of every single movement. Now? You do it without even thinking. That’s exactly how our thoughts work. They move from conscious to subconscious, shaping our entire life experience.
Here’s what I want you to do, the action step I want you to take. Grab your journal. Write down “My Bigger and Better Future” and just let your brain play. No judgment, no limits. Just pure, creative thinking. Your brain is designed to dream, to create, to imagine. Let it do its thing!
We’ve got about 60,000 thoughts a day. Not all of them matter, but the ones we give power to, those are the game-changers. And when we align those thoughts with God’s truth—whew! That’s when the magic happens.
This isn’t about being a victim of your past. This is about recognizing that YOU get to choose the meaning of your experiences. YOU get to decide how those thoughts shape your future.
Remember Philippians 4:8: focus on what’s true, honorable, pure, and lovely. That’s not just a nice Bible verse. That’s a strategy for transforming your entire life.
Are you ready to start thinking about your thinking and make this a practice?
Monette hosts a weekly podcast: Mornings with Monette. She has been a lifelong learner and and appreciates the opportunity to share what she has learned–both through her podcast and here at The Best-Life Project (based on the content of her weekly podcast). Her messages are raw, honest and straight from the heart. She lives in Albuquerque, NM with her husband Leland. They have three adult children and are enjoying living their best lives filled with travel and adventure.
I am totally in agreement with you Monette that our thoughts control our lives. God’s word tells us this over and over; “as a man thinks so is he”, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
Dr Caroline Leaf, a Christian scientist, author of Who Switched Off My Brain, began a ground swell to challenge Christians and non-believers to understand we have the power to rewire our brain pathways, just like you have so encouragely written. I do journal but now I will add “My Bigger and Better Future” to direct my thoughts and my goals in a more specific direction. Thank you for this relevant post.