It is said that man differs from animals in that he thinks, whereas animals do not. Personally, I have always failed to appreciate the logic or correctness of this statement. What if that is what animals also think about us – that we do not think? Well, it is just a thought!

That aside, thinking occupies the greatest part of human activity. Men and women are continually thinking. Thoughts are the end result of this thinking process.

According to one English Dictionary, a thought is defined as an idea or a mental conception. The definition also includes purpose and intention.

Thoughts have power to influence human life – both social and physical. Life coaches and various writers have alluded to the power of thought through their various statements such as the following:

“Thoughts are things.”

“You are what you think.”

“Whatever you can conceive, you can achieve.”

“You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think.”

“Think and grow rich.”

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right.”

It has been observed that everything which has been created by man, first existed in thought form. Every scientific invention, every painting, every great movie, every sculpture and every great piece of music had its birth in thought.

Albert Einstein has said this: “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

The power of thought is dual in nature. Thought is both a power for good as well as a power for evil. In this way, thought can be compared to dynamite or nuclear energy.

For instance, nuclear energy has the power to sustain human existence by producing electrical and other forms of energy. On the other hand, nuclear energy has the potential to totally wipe out human existence.

Similarly when thought is put to constructive use, it has the capacity to make life enjoyable and truly fulfilling. However, when mismanaged, it can bring about the most horrible conditions on earth and make life truly detestable.

I became aware of the power of thought to shape human behavior during my teenage years. I was also introduced by a close friend to Norman Peale’s books about the power of positive thinking.

I read a lot of books about thinking in general, and about the power of thoughts in particular. This extensive reading included such subjects as Personal Psychology, Mind Reading and Logic.

My interest in the subject of “Thinking” opened a whole world of Mind Studies that has contributed to making me the person I am today.

I believe that everyone can benefit from learning about “Thinking” and, indeed, about how to think. This knowledge is most beneficial to young people because by learning to think correctly, they are more likely to create lives that best fulfil their highest aspirations.

One of my criticisms of our society is that few people are able to think at all! This is most evident in the political arena where most people vote without thinking about the implications of their decisions. Or put more sarcastically, they think with their stomachs rather than their brains.

There are several forms of thinking. Let me describe one or two of these.

Negative Thinking

This is a type of thinking that is predominantly driven by negative notions. These negative notions are induced by a negative world view. There are people who for reasons difficult to understand believe that the world and everything in it is predominantly evil. They believe that the end result of all activities is evil. This type of thinking can also be referred to as pessimistic thinking.

Positive Thinking

This is a type of thinking that is predominantly driven by positive notions. These negative notions are induced by a positive world view. There are people who believe that the world, and everything in it, is essentially good. They believe that the end result of all activities is good.

Subjective Thinking

This type of thinking tends to be clouded by emotions and personal opinions. In most cases, it is influenced by personal bias.

Objective Thinking

This type of thinking is based on observable phenomena and is uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.

Reactive Thinking

This kind of thinking is a direct response to events or unplanned activities and tends to be spontaneous in nature. The conclusions derived are faulty in most cases.

Proactive Thinking

This kind of thinking is based on predetermined guidelines and tends to generate acceptable results.

The most important thing is to be able to learn how to be in control of ones thinking in order to avoid negative outcomes. The preferable modes of thinking to learn would be the positive, objective and proactive types.

Les Brown, a well-known international motivational speaker, encourages people to read at least 30 to 40 pages of something positive every day to program their mind. This can be done by going to the library to check out books.

He also suggests that people should listen to recordings and things that are positive. He suggests that the YouTube is a powerful tool for developing the mind. As you probably know, the mind is the place where all thinking processes take place.

In my days, we relied mostly on outdated books to develop our minds and our thinking. These days there are incredible resources that are very current, both online and offline.

Positive thinking or right thinking is a habit that has to be developed by concerted daily effort. If you learn to think positively your mind will be filled with positive thoughts. Nisargadatta Maharaj has said, “The mind is what it thinks. To make it true, think true.”

Psychologists tell us that thoughts have a life and an energy of their own, and that positive thoughts attract positive situations and like-minded people into our lives.

One established way of shaping our behavioral patterns is by repeating in our minds positive thoughts, or affirmations, over and over again over a period of time. In time, these thoughts drill patterns in our psyche similar to invisible rail tracks along which our actions eventually run.

Affirmations are useful in developing self-confidence and self-esteem.

My own case illustrates the power of thought to shape behavior. In my first year of Secondary school, my friends regarded me as a timid fellow whom bullies tended to terrorize. I could not bring myself to fight because my father had forbidden me to ever contemplate the thought. The irony of my father’s injunction was that he himself was a ferocious fighter, fondly referred to as KB, King of Beaters.

Through mind training, I acquired the ability to face any bully by standing very still in front of him and fiercely gazing into the bully’s eyes without blinking. I enjoyed seeing the terror that this evoked in the bully’s eyes. Up to this day, I have never had to lift a finger to defend myself.

The downside of this mental conditioning was that, with the passage of time, I moved from coward to the opposite extreme, and have always been regarded as somewhat overbearing and a kind of mental bully. Talk about the power of thought to transform behaviour.