The whole world of self-improvement is wrapped up in this one statement. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t. You’re right.” Henry Ford said that.

It’s all between a person’s ears, hidden deep in their brain. If we can ever get our thinking right everything else will follow. The hardest part is giving up what Zig Ziglar refers to as “Stinkin’ Thinkin’.”

Changing the way a person thinks can be difficult depending on the way the individual was raised and all the things that went into that person’s life growing up.

People tend to see life through the prism of their own perspective. We can see if a person had a healthy upbringing and if their home and school life was good. They will bring those feeling and emotions into their adult life. The same is true for the flip side of this coin. If a person had an unstable, unhealthy upbringing they too bring this baggage of emotions into their adult lives, thus producing that “Stinkin’ Thinkin’.”

Pediatricians and psychologists have held for many years now, that what we are to become in life as an individual happens between the ages of one to five years old.

This is why the formative years are the crucial years. What we do with children during these ultra-sensitive years makes all the difference in the world in what they will become as adults.

In some cases people end up paying for decades for what was done to them in those early years of life. The brain and how it operates is very interesting. There are scientists and doctors that have devoted whole lives to the study of the brain and all the ramifications that are entailed in the neurological systems.

The good news is it is not hopeless, people can change. Yes, it is a lot of work but with focus and concentration a person can slowly change the circumstances of a dysfunctional upbringing to a more positive outlook on life.

There are four key components that an individual has to be armed with if he or she is ever going to change the way they think; if they ever want to achieve that positive, winning attitude in life.

1. Start thinking more highly of yourself – You are special and unique. No matter what anyone has said to you in your early life you are someone truly special. You are the only person on the planet that has your DNA. You can take pride in this fact alone. Stop listening to the critics in your life and get with the cheerleaders.

2. Get the Negativity out of your life – Stop the negative speaking and the negative thoughts in your life. This is a simple statement but not an easy one to accomplish. You need to unplug the television set, and those video games for at least thirty days.

These are all things that are contributing to the way a person thinks. If you are letting garbage into your mind, garbage will be coming out of your mouth.

Watch what comes out of your mouth. Speak less and listen more. If you can’t say something positive, sit there until you can think of something constructive to add to the conversation. Today, make a pact with yourself. Stop listening to garbage and stop talking negative trash.

3. Be a reader in life –If you are ever going to make that positive change in your life you must become a reader. This is going to offset all the negativity that you experience in your home, work place, and in the world as a whole.

You need to be reading positive uplifting authors such as Norman Vincent Peale, Denis Waitley, Jim Rohn, and John Maxwell. You need to be listening to positive speeches, and sermons by great speakers. Begin today to start replacing the negative messages with positive things and you will begin to grow as a person, like you could never have imagined.

4. Begin to dream again – Set some goals for yourself and for your life. Take a pen and paper and pour yourself a cup. Go into a room by yourself and sit down and meditate and think about what it was wanted when you were growing up. What was it you wanted to be as a child? Remember, you were going to set the world on fire with your dreams and aspirations as a grown up. Start dreaming again. Start dreaming and quit belly aching. Life is good. It’s really what goes on between our ears that really count.

Change your thinking, change your whole life.