Have you ever had a prized possession?
A special or sentimental item that means the world to you? One that you cherish or what matters most?
Many of us can put our hands up to this. Some own a teddy bear from their childhood that brings back special memories. Others have a family heirloom that has been handed down through the generations that they would never part with. And quite a few of us have a modern possession we adore such as a classic sports car or autograph from a sporting idol.
What’s yours?
These things often have little financial value or at least not what we might have paid for them. But that isn’t the same within our mind (and our heart that the mind influences). What matters most to us is priceless and the importance we attach to them means they are something money just could not buy.
But you know what? The same applies to our thinking. We get so absorbed in certain thoughts they become an extension of us and so we struggle to let go of them. We carry them in our mindset for years and simply cannot put them down because they relate to a certain time or person or situation that once existed. Like our physical prized possessions they become part of us.
The difference is our mementos we hold dear don’t prevent us purchasing current day items. A cuddly 50 year old bear never prevents you buying new toys for your own children. Dad’s old pipe is kept safe locked away and as you don’t smoke it has no effect on what you spend money on day to day. What matters most related to olden times never gets in the way of what matters most with our needs today.
BUT THOUGHTS DO!
Our old, fixed thinking may be good for our teenage years or when we had a financial challenges a decade ago, but we can’t truly move into tomorrow with a mindset of yesterday. The world has moved on, people have moved on, the circumstances have moved on…..but we’re still holding onto what we used to think. We’ve not moved on mentally and often it results in our life never moving on either.
What matters most now as you approach another new year is that you take a look at your thoughts to check if they maybe some prized mental possessions that aren’t so prized any more. A threadbare toy bunny will last a lifetime in its benefit to you but threadbare thoughts well past their sell by date may not be bringing you any joy for Christmas, New Year, and every other day in the future.
Take a look at them. What thinking should you lock away and never get out again?
It’s time for some new prized mindset beliefs.
Because if your life is to thrive, that’s what matters most.