CHARLES Haanel (1866-1949) once said, ‘When the thought of the individual has been changed, the collective thought will take care of itself, but we try to reverse the process. We try to change governments instead of individuals, which cannot be done.
But with a little intelligent organised effort the present destructive thought could be readily changed into constructive thought’.
A destructive thought is produced by a negative mind-set based on fear and it results into failure and poverty. A constructive thought is produced by a positive mind-set based on love and it results intosuccess and prosperity.
To move from a negative mind-set based on fear to a positive mind-set based on love is to go through a process called positive mind-set change. This process is also known as a renewal of the mind.
This renewal of the mind is key to the process of positive mind-set change because as Edmund Spencer and Ralph Waldo Emerson observe, ‘It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor’ and ‘A person is what he or she thinks all day long’, respectively.
In other words, the thoughts which you habitually entertain in your mind have the tendency to actualise themselves in physical conditions.In short, your thoughts negative or positive which you think about most in your mind ultimately become things in your life.
Therefore, it is important to always think positive thoughts which would condition your mind to develop a positive mind-set necessary for success and prosperity.
Robert Kiyosaki is right in saying that, ‘The primary difference between a rich person and a poor person is the words he or she uses.
If you want to change a person’s external reality, you need to first change that person’s internal reality. That is done through first changing, improving or updating the words he or she uses.
If you want to change people’s lives, first change their words. And the good news is, words are free’.
The name Zambia could help any Zambian to change his or her internal reality upon which his or her external reality depends by having its letters carry positive meanings.
For example, the letter (Z) could stand for Zeal or Zest (energy and enthusiasm for life). The word enthusiasm is from a Greek word ‘en-theos’which means‘filled with God’.
Then the letter (A) could stand for Ambition (will-to-win). On ambition, John Scully the former Pepsi-Cola Executive in his autobiography writes that, ‘Visionaries are constantly fighting conventional wisdom because they see the world ahead in terms of what it can be if someone is willing to look at things in very different ways’ and A.P. Gouthey says, ‘If life were measured by accomplishments, most of us would die in infancy’.
The letter (M) could stand for Motivation (driven from within); the letter (B) could stand for Best at whatever you do; the letter (I) could stand for Integrity (honesty); and the letter (A) could stand for Abundance (affluence).
Twenty-five (25) years ago this month, on December 29, 1991 Zambia was declared a Christian Nation.
A Christian Nation is a nation that is built predominantly upon a positive mind-set. Christianity is Jesus Christ’s consciousness, thinking or teaching.
In action, Christianity means following the two greatest Commandments, the Golden Rule, rising by lifting others and rejoicing in the success of others.
In other words, Christianity is a lifestyle that is based on Jesus Christ’s consciousness, thinking or teaching. It is far beyond a mere going to any Christian church, joining any Christian congregation or singing in any Christian choir!
The two greatest Commandmentsare to love the Lord and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. In the Bible, Mathew 22:34-40 says that, ‘When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of the law, tried to trap him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘Which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, with all your Soul, and with your entire Mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments’.
The next pillar of applied Christianity is the observance of the Golden Rule which is stated in the Bible in Mathew 7:12 that ‘Do to others what you would want them to do to you.
In practice, this  means that the good that you do for others comes back to you in like measure and the evil that you do to others returns to you by the law of your own mind.
Joseph Murphy explains, ‘As you would want people to think about you, think about them in like manner, as you would want people to feel about you, feel you also about them in like manner, as you would want people to act toward you, act you toward them in like manner.
Once you know this Law and understand the way your subconscious mind works, you will always be careful to think, feel and act right toward others, for in doing so you are creating a situation of right action, feeling and thought toward you.
The way you think, feel and act toward others returns at last upon yourself.
Your mind is a creative medium; therefore, what you think and feel about the other, you are bringing to pass in your own experience.
Do not think ill of another for to do so is to think ill of yourself’.
Charles Burke advises that, ‘To think something positive about everyone and wish everyone the very best of luck is actually an investment in our own future’.
Interestingly enough, this Christian Golden Rule is so important, far-reaching and transcendent that it is also recognized by all major world religions. For instance,Brahmanism states that ‘This is the sum of duty. Do nothing to others which cause you pain, if done to you’; Buddhism states that ‘Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful’; Confucianism states that ‘Do not, to others what you would not have them do to you’; Judaism states that ‘What is hurtful to yourself, do not, to your fellow person.
That is the whole of the law, the rest is merely documentary’; Islam states that ‘No one of you is a believer until he or she desires for his brother or her sister that which he or she desires for himself or herself’; and Taoism states that ‘Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain; and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss’.
One of the key pillars of the Golden Rule is lifting others in order to rise.
Robert Ingersall observes that, ‘We rise by lifting others’. According to the Golden Rule, when you lift others up you will also rise up because your subconscious mind will transform your predominant positive thought of doing a good thing to others from your heart and mixed with your belief and feeling into its equivalent physical reality.
Another pillar of the Golden Rule is rejoicing in the success of others.
Rejoicing in the success of others is the Golden Rule in action or applied.
When you genuinely and from your heart lift others up and rejoice in their success, promotion and good fortune you will attract rising up, success, promotion and good fortune to you too.
But when you envy others for their success, promotion and fortune you will block success, promotion and good fortune from coming to you.
This Christmas and New Year, as a Zambian of a Christian Nation the good you do, the love you give and good that you send forth will all come back to you multiplied in many ways.
I wish you a merry Christmas and an abundant and affluent New Year 2017.
Author is a Motivational Mentor and Consultant in Positive Mind-Set Change. Email: positivemindpower1511@yahoo.com