donderdag 19 mei 2011

Developing positive patterns

What are patterns and what do they have to do with me? In short, it has everything to do with you, me and everyone. Let me take a moment to explain.

Do you know someone who is always late? And are they always making up excuses? “I couldn’t find the file”, “My wife misplaced my car keys”, “I need more time”, “What you’re asking is impossible”, “I had some chores to do late last night”, “I didn’t realise we were planning to meet so soon” and on and on.

What about a friend who complains they are always broke? Yet, they make a decent living – they may even earn the same wage as you. Do you know anyone who is living from paycheck to paycheck? Spending everything as soon as they get paid?

Believe it or not, the reason why this friend is always late or broke is not because of some mystical force in the universe but because of the patterns they have established. How they feel, what they think and how they react are all elements of patterns they have established. These patterns operate at the sub-conscious level and are constantly working to fulfil our friend’s expectations.

If you feel you’re going to be late, you will be. If you think you’re always broke, you tend to be.


The trick to achieving your life goals and being happy is to minimise the negative patterns and reinforce the positive patterns. Focus on establishing the habits which lead to desired results. Eliminate the temptations to do bad and surround yourself with aids that encourage the good.

If you will keep on reading, you will find out that my goal is to transition from being just a Software Engineer to an Entrepreneur. I know this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t even have a business idea yet. I certainly do not know what it takes to establish a company.

So what’s patterns got to do with anything? Everything.

It’s not just about changing my environment or circumstances, it’s about changing me. In order to achieve my goal, I first have to change my patterns. Patterns that allow me to be a good Software Engineer may not be the same patterns I need to be a successful Entrepreneur.

For example, in order to be more business savvy, I may need to spend more time reading business related texts. One way to encourage this is to setup Bloglines with more business feeds at the top of the list so I end up reading these before anything else. Also, if I am to launch a new web service, I need to consistently dedicate time outside of work to do this. This could mean, forming a habit to wake up at 5:30am and blocking out 90 mins every day.

There are lots more examples and I’ll write more about these new patterns in future posts. In the meantime, if you have a life goal you wish to accomplish or have something in your life you are unhappy about, think about the patterns you have. Which patterns are negative? Can you minimise them? If possible, establish as many positive patterns as you can that would help you achieve your goals.

18 opmerkingen:

  1. and the universe turns....


    i like your style

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  2. Great blog! Keep the posts coming, i enjoy reading them!

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  3. Always thinking on the positive side of things!

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  4. I feel like people who minimize the bad and don't focus it excuses tend to work to fix the problem, if there is one, rather than reliving it. Especially, perpetually tardy people. :P

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  5. The amount of time i spend on the net is probably the worst pattern i have, before i eat on saturday i'll be checking out whats what.

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  6. If you feel you’re going to be late, you will be. If you think you’re always broke, you tend to be.

    +1
    Love the way you think!

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  7. Good habits are hard to keep, & bad habits are hard to break!

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  8. i'll keep that in mind! thanks for sharing

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  9. Good guide Alunit, you are a good blogger!

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  10. This may actually help me overcome my indecision

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  11. Great blog! Keep the posts coming, i enjoy reading them!

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  12. Entirely true! Positive thoughts lead to positive things ;)

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  13. the main thoughts of basketball

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  14. nice post. My dad told me "Some people are poor with an income of 4000€ others get rich with an income of 1300€"
    This is true and absolutley related to your post.

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  15. I'm always late, very hard to live because when I try to not be late (waking up earlier for exemple) I meet some issues...

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  16. The only negative think I have going is my crack problem, other than that I'm pretty darn happy.

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