“Your thoughts create your reality but they are not always objective. The best part about your thoughts, though, is that they are up to you. So choose every day to think empowering thoughts that take you closer to your fullest potential.” ~ Giuliano Grimaudo

For such a huge portion of my life, I was under the illusion that my thoughts were just describing my reality.

I never questioned them.

I assumed that what I saw in front of me was being objectively translated into the thoughts that were going on in my head.

Even when it came to things like depression, I believed that it was something that was just happening to me that I then described in my mind by saying, “I’m depressed.”

That’s what I thought the order was: event first, thought second. What I’ve found over time, though, is that the order of those are not set in stone.

More often than not, it’s actually the opposite.

Thoughts Create Your Reality

I know that at first glance that might sound a little “woo woo” but I’d like to show you how this is true.

First of all, I think we all can agree that people disagree. There are different political parties, religions, careers, and so on.

Everyone sees the world a little bit differently (sometimes very differently), yet we all live here.

Do you know someone who is constantly complaining, ranting about work, or venting about some responsibility they have? They see the world in a negative way! Yet, there are some people we know who seem to be on top of the world despite having a lot of the same problems as the first person.

This is what I’m talking about.

Your reality is created by the thoughts you have about your experiences.

I’ll give you a personal example from the time when I went to counseling for the depression I mentioned earlier.

For context, what you need to know is that a lot of my friends and family used to describe me as “prideful”. I’m not sure if they do that anymore, but at that point in time they used to say it to my face and that’s how I knew.

In counseling, I was describing an interaction I had with some of my friends that didn’t exactly go very well. I casually threw in,

“But I know that’s my fault. I’m prideful.”

My counselor stopped me before I could keep going so he could dig a little deeper.

“Can you explain to me how in this interaction you acted in a way that was prideful?”

He continued to tell me that based on what I shared with him (he listed a number of things like my thought process during the interaction, my intentions surrounding it, and how I handled it), he was actually under the opposite impression. He didn’t think I was prideful at all.

Wait, what?

That wasn’t computing for me. 

For years, I had identified as a prideful person. I didn’t want to be that way, but I thought that’s just who I was.

I let what the counselor said to me sink in and I said:

“Wow… I see your point. You’re right, I wasn’t being prideful.”

It was only after that session that I realized what had been happening to me for so long.

I can break that realization down into three parts and help you understand how your thoughts create your reality because, at the end of the day, you are what you think.

How Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

1. My Thoughts Were Not Accurately Describing My reality.

This helped me to see that, not only was I not being objective, but my thoughts might be playing a different role than I thought they were before.

2. I Was Allowing Others to Define Who I Was.

The people around me were, unfortunately, not seeing me for who I could be but seeing me for my mistakes. Because of that, they labeled me in a negative way and I had accepted that label.

3. My Thoughts Were Affecting the Results I Was Getting In My Life.

By viewing myself in this negative way and accepting it as fact, I wasn’t able to proactively influence my own outcomes. Instead, I was in a downward spiral that was actually causing me to be and see bad instead of good.

So what does this have to do with you?

Here’s what you need to know:

Your thoughts create your reality as they affect your results. Put yourself into a positive spiral by focusing on and developing your strengths.

You Define You.

Don’t just accept every label that comes your way. Be intentional about who you are and what you stand for.

Your thoughts create your reality but they are not always objective. The best part about your thoughts, though, is that they are up to you. Choose every day to think empowering thoughts that take you closer to your fullest potential.

And remember, you are what you think because your thoughts create reality, so pay attention to where your thoughts take you today.

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