A lot of people think that the passage in the book of John 1:14 in the Bible, “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us”, was a mere figure of speech.

The truth is that it is not.

Thoughts are things and more often than not, we attract or become what we constantly think.

Two Saturdays ago, I had written on the power of positive confession in business and in life.

The fact remains, we become what we think and reinforce constantly in our mind most of the time.

History abound with people who became the success that they consistently thought of.

So, we attract what we are and also create what we constantly think about.

A lot of the time, we forget that the world is far more spiritual than physical and as input determines output, spiritual defines or determines the physical.

If you want to change your world, the best place to start is your mind, your thoughts.

Start by changing your thought pattern.

Some peoples’ thoughts make them poor, while other peoples’ thoughts make them rich.

So, what are you thinking?

A sure way to change our thoughts is to have somebody that we are looking up to.

Having a mentor or a role model propels us to do more than what we would have done when we don’t have them.

Not having a mentor or a role model, simply means being our own teacher, living by our own standard and running at your own speed.

That is being in our comfort zone, which is tantamount to failure or at best average.

Let me examine some of the rules to reprogram our mindset.

1. Act like the person you want to become: I have said on this platform that what makes people successful is action and not motivation. Your action is what shapes who you are and not your intention. So to succeed, you have to ACT like the person you want to become. Study his or her work ethics, discipline and character and try to act the same.

2. Think like the person you want to become: To be like someone, you have to think like the person. Your thoughts are the architects of your future. So, your world view and that of the person you want to be like should be the same. You cannot want to be like somebody and fail to think like the person.

3. Make the decision to change and commit: For any real change to take place there must be commitment. There must be let go of a lot of things and this includes your thoughts and believes. Without commitment, change is just a wish.

4. Visualize the life you want every single day: Like I said above, thoughts are things and a lot of the time what we think most of the time and reinforce in my minds becomes reality. This has worked for me. I am someone who naturally want to be happy. So what I did right from time was to reduce drastically my desires. I know that the fewer my desires, the happier I would be. I only desire what I need and never what I want and what I can’t afford, don’t bother me. With that mindset, from the rising of the sun to its setting, I don’t get stressed out.

5. What your mind rehearses, your body starts to believe: Our mind is the engine of our body. Whatever you think and reinforce begins to manifest in reality. In the 80s, there was a popular soap in Nigeria, known as Bassey and Company. The lead character in the soap, Mr B was popular with the saying, “If want to be a millionaire, think like a millionaire.” So, all it takes to become what you want is to think and act.

6. Protect your energy from negativity: In order to make the best use of your energy, you don’t just have to be positive, you also need to be in a positive environment. In short, you have to surround yourself with positive people. You can’t attract peace while living in chaos. Some human beings are by nature drainers, you have no business being around such people. It is better to be alone than to be with the wrong people.

Be patient with the process but be strict with your discipline-Process is slow, in fact very slow and a lot of people are not always happy with that. They want to hurry the time. But it must not be that way. There is nothing like doing the right thing. Though it looks stupid at the beginning, it pays in the end. Foundation is everything in business and in life, so make sure you start with the right foundation, be patient with the process.

Your words are seed, plant wisely. The Bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue. So you have be choosy of what you say. You have to know what you tell yourself and others. Even you have to be mindful of the type of jokes you make. Always tell yourself that you are the best and believe in that you truly are because if you don’t believe in your vision no one else will. Speak it; live it; become it. Your life will follow your mindset.

•Peter Anosike has a Ph.D in Consulting and Profit Management. He is an international bestselling author and founder, Ultimate Entrepreneurs Academy, an organisation that trains college students, under graduates and even workers on how to become successful entrepreneurs. Google Anosike Peter for some of his bestselling books.