When I started reading the Bible, I was struck by the text in Proverbs 4:23 where the Lord advises us to guard our hearts above all else.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” Proverbs 4:23

I was surprised to realize that this text was not just asking us to guard our thoughts, but to guard them better than anything else. I understood that “above all else” meant more than money, children, spouse, businesses, reputation, etc. The Lord allowed me to realize that nothing on earth is worth guarding more than our thoughts.

When the devil wanted to seduce Eve and lead her to disobey God, he simply introduced a lie into her thoughts. Once Eve allowed the devil’s lie to take root, she ended up taking actions that led to her downfall. It’s true that when we hear the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, we are tempted to blame the serpent as the author of the lie that caused their fall. But the truth is that the serpent is a liar and knows nothing else but to lie. This is why God took care to warn Adam and Eve.

Exceptional people understand that they can in no way blame those who want to poison their thoughts, because these individuals can only succeed in their mission if they find a heart that is not seriously guarded.

He who controls your thoughts controls you.

In my book entitled “Think Well to Succeed Better,” I explain that our thoughts are courted all day long. Everyone wants to enter our thoughts to take control and make us do things that serve their interests more than ours. This is how product and service creators do everything possible to communicate thoughts whose sole mission is to push us to consume. These entrepreneurs use increasingly subtle infiltration methods and thus manage to control the majority of the population.

Exceptional people are the only ones who protect their thoughts with a rigor that leaves no chance for manipulators. This allows them to make choices and decisions that serve their true interests. This is what enables them to be real actors in their destinies.

When I decided to become a property owner before the end of my studies, I planned to save more than 60% of my monthly income. This meant depriving myself even of things considered necessities by many. I was naive to think I would receive encouragement from those around me. I did not know that the devil would use my surroundings to try to infiltrate my thoughts and convince me to spend my money for immediate gratification.

When we read the biographies of men and women who have achieved great success, we realize that most of them faced words that could discourage them and push them to abandon their projects. These words come from family members, friends, teachers, media. These negative words target the thoughts of ambitious and faithful men and women to poison them and render them incapable of completing their projects. The good news is that no negative word can infiltrate the thoughts of a person who seriously guards their heart. Successful people know this secret and apply it.

Thoughts are seeds.

The Holy Scriptures tell the story of a strong and powerful man who never used his strength and power because of the limiting thoughts he entertained every day. This person constantly thought he was insignificant and incapable of great feats. The more he thought this way, the more he felt truly incapable. This incapacity further fueled and reinforced the negative nature of his thoughts.

One day, this man received a visit from an angel of the Lord who revealed to him that he was not at all what he thought, but that he was actually a mighty hero. Once this man began to think as the angel had indicated, strength and courage immediately began to manifest in his life. This man is none other than Gideon.

“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress in order to save it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.’ Then Gideon said to him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.’ The Lord looked at him and said, ‘Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?’ He said to Him, ‘O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.’ So Gideon said to Him, ‘If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me. Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You and bring out my offering and lay it before You.’ And He said, ‘I will remain until you return.’ Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. The angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, ‘Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.‘” Judges 6:11-23

This story shows us that although Gideon had always been a mighty hero, he could not live the life of a mighty hero because of the negative thoughts he chose to sow constantly about himself. Unlike Gideon, exceptional people always choose to sow positive and empowering thoughts about themselves and their potential. They know that you always reap what you sow.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap” Galatians 6:7

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This text is an excerpt from the book “THE MINDSET OF EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE” written by Dominique MBOG.

We invite you to read the following article “We Have The Power To Choose What We Think“.