Day 296: On Your Habitual Thoughts
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
The thoughts you entertain most often will have the biggest impact on who you are as a person. If you think about your business every day, you’ll define yourself as an entrepreneur. If you have negative thoughts every day, your attitude will be negative. If every day you blame everything and everyone but you for your problems in life, you’ll self-identify as a victim.
For this reason, it’s a good exercise to periodically take stock of your most habitual thoughts and their potential impact on who you are as a person.
For example, I recently discovered that I had been engaging in too many negative thoughts. While those negative thoughts usually represent a small percentage of the thoughts I have, lately they had multiplied. Using Marcus Aurelius’s words, I don’t want to let them dye my soul black, so I’ve made a decision to focus on cultivating more positive thoughts and weeding out the negative ones.
Think of the most common thoughts you’ve been engaging in recently and ask yourself if they represent the kind of a person you want to be. If not, it’s time to exert some self-discipline and regain control of your mind.