Stranger in a Strange Land
One of my favorite books of all times is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. He was a genius and often is referred to as the father of science fiction. He and Isaac Asimov put so much more than sci-fi into their books and both were amazingly prolific writers. You can argue that some of their ideas on society and relationships or the role of government were too far out there. I might agree, but for plot characters and emotion, they were the shit.
I really didn’t plan on talking about the books or philosophies of the authors, but more on one point talked about briefly in “Stranger.” Mike Smith, the main character, was raised on Mars and was weak in Earth’s gravity. However he had amazing mind-body connection. After a few weak weeks on Earth he turned into an Adonis with muscles that would be the envy of any gym rat. When asked about how he developed those muscles he said “I thinked them.”
Literally with his mind, he knew he needed to be stronger and sub-consciously he directed his body to grow and be stronger. I don’t think this is far fetched. No, I don’t think we can just direct our bodies to be one way and overnight we are that way, but our mind has much more impact than we generally think.
Whether you want a better self image, improved self-esteem or a better shaped body, it all starts inside your mind. The first step is believing that change is happening, fleshing out a new picture in your mind and making yourself believe that it is coming to be.
If you truly take this belief into your heart, mind and soul, it will come to be. Maybe not overnight and maybe not in the manner you initally envisioned, but it will come to be. When you step in front of a mirror, you should hold that future image in your head along with the steps to attain it. Hold the vision true and steadfast.
Example of a vision attained, but not in the expected manner. I have been working online, doing my writing thing and trying various methods of making money, in the expectation that sooner or later my income would be sufficient online that I would not need a traditional job. In the past few weeks, out of the blue, from efforts made years or months ago, suddenly money is showing up in my mailbox and directly deposited into my bank account.
I won’t lie, it’s not enough to sustain my lifestyle, but it suddenly is a stream of income. Passive income. Work done once, pays for a long time. Beautiful and not expected, but envisioned. Hey, maybe one day my book royalties will take off too, you never know.
But getting back to “thinking your body” we just need to hold fast to what we want, keep the vision in our heads and take steps to make it so.
(for more on creating a vision board, one strategy for visualization, check out my youtube video on the subject)
