Affirmations: Your Personal Ad Campaign
Your mind is an information vaccuum. Either you fill it with thoughts of your choosing or someone else will.
What's in your wallet? No. I'm not asking for money and you probably didn't think I was. We've all heard those Capital One commercials so many times that you probably thought immediately...Capital One. Their ad agency thanks you.
I've been a part of the "Pepsi Generation." I'm constantly asking myself, "Are you in good hands?" I used to "Think outside the bun." We've all had the urge to, "Save Money. Live Better." That, of course, only leads to "More saving, more doing."
Heck, we practically went to war with each other over "Make America Great Again" and "I'm with Her."
Even if you don't watch a lot of TV these days, these ads and their slogans are everywhere - TV, radio, YouTube. There's no escape. The more times they can inculcate your mind, the better chance they have to gain "mind share" with you.
Being that we passively absorb these messages all day every day, it begs a question. Where do your thoughts come from and are they truly yours? You're confident your thoughts are yours?
"Tastes great." If you're of a certain age, you immediately thought, "Less filling."
The thoughts that you think have a huge impact on the quality of life you lead. Where do your thoughts come from? Are they truly your own? Do your thoughts on an average day support your goals or do they stand in the way of you achieving the things you really want in life?
In 2015, advertisers will spent $600 billion globally on direct advertising to mold your thinking about yourself and the world around you. It's not unusual for political campaigns to spend millions of dollars to sway you to vote for a candidate.
That does not even include the news media, talk radio, your family, your church, and your friend at the water cooler at work; all of whom are constantly feeding your mind a steady diet of thoughts that counter and even undermine thinking that positively supports your desired direction in life. These professional marketers are extremely good at what they do. They often drive what's hot and what's not. Who's in and who's out. Given enough time, they start literally wear new pathways in your brains causing you to believe, through repetition, that something is true.
They do it using a simple equation:
well-defined message + repetition = reshaped thinking.
Why do they want to reshape your thinking? Is it for some questionable purpose? Not usually. They are trying to reshape your thinking because your thoughts and opinions about something (their product, their message, their beliefs) influence your actions. Actions are the advertiser's or the politician's, or your mother's real target. The reason they target your thoughts with repetitious ad campaigns (or, in the case of your mother, repetitious reminders) is that they know your thoughts eventually control behavior.
Trump and Russia colluded.
As human beings, we are susceptible to some very simple principles. One is that our thoughts lead to action and repeated actions become habits. Habits become your life.
their thoughts>their actions>their habits>their vision of your life
Iran is a clear and present danger.
As habits become ingrained, our thoughts tend to reinforce and even justify the habits. In extreme cases, this thought, action, habit nexus survives even in the face of very negative consequences the actions create in our lives (i.e. addiction).
The good news is that you can take control of your own thinking by launching your own targeted media campaign. Looked at in one way, that's what affirmations truly are. They are a targeted media campaign of your choosing designed to reassert your own thoughts on top of those drilled into you all day. You put the equation to work for you:
your well-defined message + repetition = thinking reshaped to your goals
You counter the message others are paying so much to place into your mind with thoughts of your choosing. So that your life becomes:
your thoughts>your actions>your habits>your vision of your life!
Am I suggesting you use affirmations to break your Taco Bell habit? No, but you could. The reason these marketers use this principle is because it works. I am suggesting you can put the same power to work for you in your life.
You have thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back. Why not launch your own ad campaign to counter them?
It's never too late start. Today is the day to begin shaping your own life, your own beliefs, and your own dreams again. After all, the real question is not, "What's in your wallet?" The real question is who has control of your thoughts?
Empower your mind!
Ray
