As we think so we become.
From Buddha to Saint Paul, and including any number of contemporary writers, we find a common thread connecting thought to our reality. In my simple minded way the easiest way to change your self is to change how you think.
How?
Surround yourself with thoughts supporting where you want to go and what you want to be when you get there. It can be as simple as using some discretion in your choice of TV, movies, radio, magazines, books and the internet.
If you want to be a skinhead read and think about skinhead hate-filled things. If you want to be compassionate read and think about compassion. If you have been thinking about getting more exercise, being kinder, mending some fences; keep thinking about those things and eventually what you envision will happen. You have to start from the inside out.
This is not to say that there aren't plenty of hypocrites that say one thing and do another. I heard a Jesuit priest say something funny about people who like to comment that churches are filled with hypocrites. He replied, "yes but there's always room for one more."
What I'm getting at is true inside-out change, not carefully constructed but artificial outward appearances we see in some poor disgraced televangelist, or some evangelists who purport to be Christians yet preach hate against some group of people.
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world."
Buddha
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Paul's Letter to the Philippians 4:8
Over the years I've been a fan of the power of positive thinking as described in Dr. Norman Vincent Peale's work.
You might find something useful in your personal quest towards enlightenment in these Free Positive Thinking Booklets.
I've also been involved in Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" training as a student and facilitator. I believe there are some worthwhile lessons to be learned from Covey's material no matter where you are in life. The book is good but if you can participate in a seminar with others it's even better. The Effectiveness Zone has a sampling of various Franklin Covey resources.
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