Your thoughts and beliefs determine what happens in your life and guarding your heart can be the quickest path to your brighter future.
Earl Nightingale, one of the greatest philosophers, put it this way: We become what we think.
Are you tired of the status quo in your life?
Do you want to go from where you are presently to where you want to be?
Do you believe that you can get to that brighter future? Or do you think you can never amount to anything in life?
I’m very sure you have your answers on the tip of your tongue, so whether it is yes or no, one big truth holds, that:
Whatever you believe in your heart is what happens in your life!
You must have heard this time and time again, but has it ever made sense to you?
Have you ever sat down to think and see how it applies to you?
If not, here’s your chance!
What beliefs do you hold in your heart, what kind of mindset do you carry? And how can guarding your heart support your journey to where you want to be?
Do the current beliefs of your heart elevate or demean you?
Most of our beliefs spring from our background knowledge that encompasses our parental teachings, religion, tribe, society, and so on.
Many of these beliefs we hold are like “DOs and DON’Ts” or set rules that are not in themselves harmful to us but have in a way trapped most people, making them unable to open up, take risks and be what they ought to be in life.
A far less discussed source of our belief are the kinds of things we allow into our hearts and absorb into our subconscious mind which become the source of our expectations.
There are many pathways to the heart, things that shape your thinking, from what you hear and see daily, the kind of words you speak to yourself and the words people around you speak into your life, all these become a pattern of your thoughts and begins to shape your life.
A wise man from the holy scriptures puts into consideration how our thoughts affect our life. His words: “Be careful how you think; your thoughts shape your life.”
Another translation puts it this way;
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Out of your heart flows the issues of life!
What are the issues of life?
Life issues are common problems everyone encounters in life.
Failure and success, prosperity and poverty, all come from the heart, so also love and hate. Which is why guarding your heart is a necessary and vital component to living the best life possible.
It is our thoughts that become words and actions, so if you find yourself failing instead of succeeding or you find yourself in wallowing in poverty instead of swimming in prosperity, then you should check your thoughts, your words and your actions.
Thoughts are also unspoken words which could build up into love or hate.
Your thoughts are so powerful; therefore, you must guard your heart!
How do you guard your heart?
How do you deal with or overcome your life issues?
How do you go from where you are drowning in negativity to where you want to be, filled with hope and positivity?
How do you keep your heart from negative thoughts so you can achieve your dreams?
These few tips below are just what you need!
1. Sieve through information
“Wall your life, guard your heart and mind your mind! A life without a wall, least blocks things! A mind without a wall accepts anything at all!” ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
Not every information you hear, should you allow into your heart.
You have to take certain beliefs out of your mind because not everything is helpful to you. Most of us have allowed ourselves to be swayed into that which we weren’t made for, because of the “that is how we do it” syndrome.
Many people cannot fulfill God’s will for their lives because they want to do what others are doing, so they take information or advice from others.
Some of this information also come from social media (a once convenient platform which has now become a nightmare of comparison and competition).
This is a big mistake! You should never compare your behind the scenes to someone else’s highlights; we all have a different purpose of achieving and different paths to follow.
Guard your heart! Do not let everything you see or hear control of your life. Sieve through information, retain the good and do away with the bad.
“Even a computer guards itself against the virus, why not you? Guard your mind!” ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah,
2. Be careful who you listen to
Who you listen to, pulls the strings of your heart.
Who you listen to controls your mind, and whoever controls your mind controls your destiny.
You have the power to choose who to be around and also who you listen to.
You might hear everyone speak, but you choose who you listen to.
3. Guard your heart by developing the ability to say no!
Say no to whatever you do not want in your life.
A scribe once wrote this; “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.”
Most times we do things out of compulsion or to please others at the detriment of our own peace, but the idea is when doing something out of compulsion you fall or screw up.
How is that?
Well… You can never do something out of compulsion and not get angry, furious and just at that moment you fall…
Unless you learn to say no to whatever it is you do not want in your life, you’ll continue to get influenced; your thoughts will always be manipulated, your decisions will no longer be yours, your life will be scripted according to how your dictators want it.
Be assertive! Let your yes be yes and your no is no.
4. Rebuke every harmful thought that enters your mind.
What are the things going on in your heart?
Are they positive or negative?
Just like a spring of water flowing into streams, ponds or rivers, if the source becomes poisoned, the flow becomes toxic, and it spreads to other receivers of the water. The condition of the stream or river depends on its cause.
So also, your heart! If your heart is unhealthy or poisoned by negativity, it spreads and affects every other area of your life.
What you think in your heart determines what happens in your life. Your thinking is very important in your life.
There are things you could have achieved in life, but your thinking hindered you.
When you’re at the verge of taking big steps that will improve your life, you let your “What ifs” hit you like a thunderstorm, and then you lie in failure thinking your success in life is impossible.
This is the wrong approach to living your life.
Rebuke every harmful thought that enters your heart and even when you have your back against the wall, and it looks like it is over fights!
Fight to your victory, for hope will arise again.
“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” ~ John C. Maxwell
How do you see failure? Do you see it as an end or a rock bottom you cannot rise from? Or do you see it as an opportunity to try again?
How do you respond to failure? Do you sit in it, wallowing in self-pity? Or do you stand up and fight till you win.
“There is no doubt in my mind that there are many ways to be a winner, but there is only one way to be a loser, and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure.” ~ KYLE ROTE JR.
Guard your heart, change your thoughts today! Say these affirmations out loud.
My future is colourful and bright
I must get there, I must see it
Nothing can stop me
I think new positive thoughts
I am a success
I am a winner
I am more than a Conqueror!
