NaBloPoMo Day 13 : Making Quotes Work for You

Ever since WhatsApp has made its appearance, many of us probably wake up to good morning messages from family and friends. Sometimes, we may receive the same message from many people or through many groups. At other times, a message you sent someone comes back to you from the same person but it’s alright; after all, isn’t it the thought that counts? Besides, if your messages are coming back to you, it’s probably an indication that you share a similar mindset, which again, is cause for joy because like-minded people are not that easy to come by.

But this blog post is not to talk of WhatsApp messages as such. It’s more about what we can do with those positive thought messages and how we can actually harness them for growth.

One thing I’ve found useful is to make one of those image quotes into my display picture. Judging from the response I get, it seems like there are quite a few people who draw inspiration from such pictures. That reminds me – I’ve actually written an entire blog post on this topic.

But what I want to share today is a trick to make those quotes work for you. Pick any one quote that strikes you as relevant to your life. Then go ahead and look for occasions where you can adopt that particular thought in your day. For example, let’s say you have this quote in mind:



That’s easy..the quote itself tells you what to do and when..so watch out for instances when you get angry, or feel stressed, tired or in doubt and then do a simple, slow mental count of 1 to 10. This pause will help you grow calm and give you a better perspective of things. Most of us already know what events cause us to get angry or anxious or stressed. So, all you need to do is tell yourself that when this happens, you are going to pause and count 1 to 10. Act on this decision for a week or so, and you’re bound to notice some tiny level of change in your responses. Keep at it for another week, a month and the changes will be more impactful.

Whichever quote you choose to act upon, make it a point to look at it about 4 or 5 times in a day. This mindful reading will send the message deeper into your subconscious and create a strong impression that prods you to act on the thought.

Say you’ve picked this quote


The gist of the quote is “let things go.” So, whenever you find yourself harping on something, stop. If you catch your mind going over an event that went wrong, stop. You can even visualize that event or thought as a small bubble that you blow gently away saying, “Go, I don’t need you.” Watch that bubble go farther and farther away and finally grow very small and disappear. When you do this repeatedly for a few days, you will notice that the thought has stopped bothering you.

Words and images evoke a strong reaction from our unconscious mind which has a tendency to grip strongly at things. By making our mind intentionally and repeatedly focus on positive thoughts and words, we provide it with an easy means to grow more positive.