100 Ways To Motivate Yourself, Third Edition

90. Think your way up

In some of my seminars I like to draw a picture of a ladder on the board and call it “the ladder of selves.” On the very bottom I write “The Physical,” in the middle I put “The Emotional,” and at the top I place “The Mind.” We can move up or down this ladder by the sheer force of will, although most people don’t know they have that option.

By traveling up the ladder, past the physical, through the emotional, and into your mind, you have the opportunity to be creative and thoughtful. You can see possibilities. Many of us, however, never get past the emotional section of the ladder. When we’re stuck there, we begin thinking with our feelings instead of thinking with our minds. If you hurt my feelings, and I’m angry and resentful, ...