924. Things follow thoughts.

What if the real reason you're stuck isn’t because life is hard, but because you’re reacting to it instead of leading it?

In this episode, I break down a powerful line from James Allen’s Book of Meditations:

“Things follow thoughts. Alter your thoughts, and things will receive a new adjustment.”

Most people live in reverse, letting their circumstances dictate their thoughts. But when you flip that, when you lead with intention and awareness, things begin to shift in your favor.

🔑 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why “things” are undefined—and that’s a good thing
• How small mental shifts (not big overhauls) create lasting change
• The trap of reactive thinking—and how to escape it
• What it means to adjust for the way, not fight against it
• How to build momentum with quiet course corrections

If you're tired of starting over, stuck in loops, or feeling like your life is off track, this episode will provide you with the clarity and mindset shift you need to move forward with intention.

Push play. Let's get it!

Transcript

0:00

All right. Click, click, click. Boom. All right, let's get it. Welcome to another episode of What's Your Problem, the podcast. I'm your host, marsh Bi, and bro, what are we on episode 9 24? We were barreling down toward 1000 and I don't know why. 1000 is just a number, you know, just like I remember years ago, man, when I was. Trying to get to episode 500, and I really felt like, like at 500, like the, the whole world was just going to, the, the heavens were going to open up like something. And I don't know why I just picked that number. And I will say, like, I, I think I, I did gain more clarity at that 500 things did shift differently in my mental space. Um. And so I guess now that I'm sitting here talking this out, things did shift, but it wasn't, you know, I was looking at it more so from a materialistic standpoint, whatever year that was. And on episode 500 is probably 2018, 2019, something like that. Um, but episode, you know, 1000, I guess it's just, it's, it's a lot of pride, man, that to be able to, this is probably the only thing that I've ever. Stuck the course to, other than my job in sales for 27 years, but only the, the thing that I've really just internally been committed to for so long, been doing this since October of 2017. So we got an anniversary coming up on that. Um, and it's cool man. It'll be eight years and it's just a lot of eight years of, of growing, of evolving. And, and I can tell you this, it, it's really helped me. A lot. So a lot of times when people reach out to me and they're like, man, I appreciate the podcast, or, or listen to it. And my first response is, it, it helps me. I'm glad it helps you, but it helps me too, uh, because it's kind of my stake in the ground. And those of you who have rocked with me for a long time, you've been with me like you've, there are days I get on the mic and you're like, bro, I hope he is okay. Like I just sound drab. And. Uh, kind of, it kind of drug down and, you know, it's, it's been, it's been times of just let me just get on and get this outta the way. There's been times I've ghosted and, you know, took a week off. You know, I, I listened to those things and, you know, I listened to my body as much as I'd love to do an episode every single day, and we're gonna get to that. But I'm also cognizant of the fact that, or I'm, I'm aware too. I don't wanna just put something on just to put something on.'cause I gotta, I get an episode up today and so there may be days, you know, I just, I, I, I string 'em all together and there may be other days where just once a week, but that's what's beautiful about podcasting. It's my schedule. I could do it the way I wanna do it. Um, but going back to my initial. Uh, thought was, you know, I, I do it for me. Um, but I share it because I feel like that if I'm going through something, somebody else is too. So I'm a big believer of getting up in the mornings and segmenting some time aside and random reading. And a lot of the times I do random reading. And I picked a, a random book and, and put the timer on for 15, 20 minutes and then try to try to find something of value that I can write about and reflect on. And if it resonates, then I share it. If it doesn't, then it just gets archived and I just rock on from there. And lately. I've been kind of focused on one book, and so I've kind of been in that season. That's what's beautiful about life. Like a lot of things I talk about on these episodes. I. By and large, from a majority standpoint, I do those. But there are days, man, there are days I don't work out. There are days I sleep in. There are days that I eat whatever. There are days that I don't randomly. There are days I just don't read at all. So when I share these messages, I share these messages from a majority standpoint, but it's not about. The perfection side of it, man. It's just about the progression. These are the, these are kind of the checkpoints along the way that I use, and you may listen to these things and you're like, some of these things I'm just not willing to do. That's cool. There are things that people. I online or I read about it. I'm just like, that just doesn't, I don't rock with that. They don't resonate with me on that, and I don't do 'em. And you, you can try 'em out. You can sample 'em a little bit. That's what's beautiful about life. It doesn't work for you. Cool. It doesn't work with you. So let me, uh, rock out with you, uh, today on James Allen. I didn't even get to tell the story. Today. I'm reading Bethany Frankl's book. Uh, business is personal, I believe. And I've, I've, I've chopped up that book and when I say chopped it up, random reading, like I've gone outta different chapters. But I don't know, I'm just kind of hovering around that one. I really, uh, I like her style. I like her candor and you know, she keeps it real. I think that's the name of her podcast, like B Frank, which is Bethany Frankel. Nice play on words. But it's, you know, she's just a no holds bar, been very successful. So it's cool. But anyway. I didn't get to any of that, but I'm off today so I'll probably get to it today 'cause I have a empty schedule. I don't have much going on. But I wanna share with you real quick, man, it was out of uh, James Allen's book, meditations and I read like three quarters of the passage for that day.'cause they're a little thought starters. Like for June 4th, here's the passage for June 5th, here's this passage. And so I read like. They're normal, like page, page and a half. So I read like three quarters of the page down. I don't even know what the hell I read, but it was the last part that really hit me. And I tried to go onto something else and I just, I just couldn't do it. And here's what he wrote. Things follow thoughts alter your thoughts and things will receive a new adjustment. And that was just something I was like. Okay. And, but it was just like, like something like snagged me and I was like, wait, read that again. Things follow thoughts, alter your thoughts and things, receive a new adjustment. And so this is what I love about reading on eBooks, on like Kindle is even words that I. Assume. I know I like to, when I'm, when I'm wrestling with a passage or a thought or something like that, I like to click on the word and see what the true definition of it is. So, I mean, we all know what things are. I mean, in a general sense. Um, but I clicked on the word. I said, what is, what is things and, and things, by definition, they're undefined. They're not labeled. I. And so because they're not labeled, because they're undefined, they don't come with any sort of clarity or guarantee. So it could be some outcomes, it could be some opportunity. It could be just some momentum builders, but it could also be resistance as well. But what James Allen is saying is, if you lead with intention, if you alter your thoughts. Okay. Then those things start to shift. Those things being outcomes, opportunities, momentum, resistance start to shift, and they receive what he calls a new adjustment. Okay? Things follow thoughts. Alter your thoughts and things, receive a new adjustment. So then I go to rabbit hole mode and I say, well, what's the definition of adjustment? I know the general idea of adjustment. Clicked on that word. An adjustment isn't a huge overhaul. It's these slight movements shifts, tweaks. And it's something that you do ever so slightly to improve the fit, appearance or outcome. And that's powerful because when you break it all down and put it back, you see it way differently because a lot of times you think that you gotta scrap everything and start over. When in fact, all you need to do is just simply adjust. Go back to what he said, things follow thoughts, alter your thoughts and things, receive a new adjustment. Okay, so here's where most people get stuck. Is when the order flips. Because I was like, things fall. A thoughts. Okay, what if it's the other way around? This is where I, this is why you should write. This is why you should take passages that kind of like give you a little jab, a little gut punch, and you're like, wait, what does that mean? What if it was the other way around? And I said, well, what if I flipped it? What happens if thoughts start to follow things? See when your thoughts follow things, you're not really thinking at all. That's the the deceiving part. You're more so in reaction mode, and so you get trapped in this cycle of reacting. You pride yourself in being busy and you think that you're productive. But you're not at all. This is why you're frazzled. This is why you're frustrated. You've become a firefighter. You're just putting out fires and everything's just generalities, and this is why you feel like that the world is up against you. Life is not against you when you get into these moments. These are actually signals that life. It is saying you have the order mixed up. Instead of things following thoughts, your thoughts are following things, and all you're doing is, is you're trapped in this perpetual cycle of reacting. So when you're in this reaction mode. And you think the world is up against you and nothing seems to be working, you have the order mixed up and it is a signal from life telling you you need more intention. You need more awareness, and you need to alter your thoughts. Altering does not mean abandoning your vision or tossing out. Anything else doesn't mean you just cut bait at all. When you alter something, you simply make adjustments. See, I used to think that everything had to go my way, and I can't tell you how many times I've stopped and stopped and started because I big lipped it and things didn't go my way. Things will always go your way. If you simply adjust for the way, so instead of expecting the world to conform to your plan, you remain flexible. You just adjust your plan for these circumstances that may pop up. Again, I'm not cutting bait. But I'm flexible, I'm fluid. I make the necessary adjustments. I'm keeping my eyes open. I'm shutting down the narrative of, oh, is me. And I make these small shifts based on the new information while you're still maintaining your core direction. And see, it's these internal shifts, adjustments. That you make for the externals. Some things were unforeseen, some things just popped up. Some things you didn't account for. Some things you had to get to these points to realize. Okay, and how many times have you just stopped something because you're like, it's the externals. You're like, oh, here we go again. When instead. When things follow thoughts with the thoughts, you're intentional, you're focused, you're aligned, and you just simply make the course corrections. Alter your thoughts. Make these small iterations, man, these little course corrections, and you let your thoughts lead the way. Because you gotta remember, and I bang the drum about this all, all the time. The timeline that you're on is eventually and ultimately, okay? So when you do this consistently, when you're aligned, when you're thinking you make the course corrections, you're consistent, eventually things will tip in your favor because of momentum, because of consistency. Things will tip in your favor, and ultimately you will succeed. Now, if I ask you, do you wanna win or do you wanna succeed? Most people are gonna say, well, of course Marsha, I wanna win. I get it. But really what you wanna do is succeed. Success is a mixture of wins and losses. You need both. I hate to tell you, I know you don't like the Ls, but if you won every single time, your life will be boring. You wouldn't learn and you would get soft. The wins push you through the losses. The losses help you grow, evolve. Think, analyze, adjust, and appreciate the wins. Again, if you want all the time, you'd be just this soft baby, but because you take the L, 'cause you're a little bit embarrassed 'cause you took a step back. So what keeps you woke? So what makes you say fuck this? It's what gets the fight going. It's get the motors running again. So it's a good thing when you take the Ls. When you mix the wins and the losses, ultimately that's how you succeed. Go back to the original passage. Things follow thoughts, alter your thoughts, and things will receive a new adjustment. Things just begin to line up for you because you're just continuously building this momentum. Not all at once, just once all the time. You just make these adjustments. And because you were focused, because you were aware, because you just kept adjusting, you created that momentum, and with that momentum you got more direction, you got more awareness, you got more clarity, you attracted more connections, and that's why you'll succeed. Now, it's not gonna be perfect. There are gonna be detours. There are gonna be unexpected events. There's gonna be unfairness. It ain't gonna be blow pops, rainbows and unicorns. It won't be straight roads all the time, and it will not always be blue skies. But because you're leading with your thoughts and you're willing to alter your thoughts, just make the adjustment. Then the things, because you're in charge, the things receive a new adjustment. Alright. This may be one you have to listen to a couple of times.'cause this is Sure. One that I had to wrestle with for about an hour. I had to talk it out. I had to write it out. I put it on my Instagram story to work it out. I made a Facebook post, a Twitter thread, a LinkedIn post, see these things. This is why I put these things out there is not, Hey, look what I published. Sometimes, man, I'll put these things out there so I can think about 'em differently because there's a lot of times I post something and I'm like, when it comes to the podcast, I share it a little bit differently because. I'm still holding on and wrestling with that, with that thought, and something else pops in some sort of new clarity. And then on the flip side, there are things that I share on the podcast and after the podcast, then I put 'em out there. Sometimes I do it the other way and I write it a little bit differently. I share it a little bit differently because things popped in sometimes like a good steak, you cook it and then you let it kind of sit. And then when it does, those juices soak back in and you get a better steak. It's kind of how writing and sharing messages and doing these things, I don't share messages because it's like, oh look, I have a new episode. No, this is, I just, I just geek out on life, man. I think life is so fascinating and so interesting and there are so much. Out there to just absorb and digest and break it down on what it means to you. Like, bro, you may read this passage and see something completely different. You may interpret it completely different, and that's the beautiful thing about it. It's yours. It's yours to interpret. The author, put it out there. Oh, uncle Marsh, put it out there the way he sees it. The author put it out there how he sees it. Uncle Marsh put it out there the way he sees it. Now, how do you see it? Love to hear from you. I'm on all the uh, socials. Tag me, dm me, or if you want to share a thought, a message, go to my name.com. Marsh Buice.com . The bottom right is a microphone. Now that microphone, instead of typing everything out, you can leave me a message, a voice message. It comes directly to me. Don't come to anybody else or anything like that. Now, also, you may notice that I forgot to mention on the podcast app, there's a thing that says send us a text. Uh, so that's with my host provider Buzz Sprout. They have a cool little feature that you can actually shoot a text. And what's cool is it drops it, you shoot me a text message, it comes right to my phone. And, uh, so yeah, unfortunately I can't respond back. It doesn't, it's not a two-way thing or anything like that. But if you wanna leave me an email address. Uh, our phone number or something like that. Be more, uh, than happy to respond back to you that way. If you would continue to help support the show and grow the show, we are the top 3% podcast in the world. I wanna get to the top 1%. Okay. Um, why? Because it's available. It's not an ego thing or anything like that, it's just I love sharing messages. And I live in a town of 80,000 people in Lake Charles, Louisiana. And what is so beautiful about this is I just like to show people what's possible, okay? There are people that are literally all over the world that listen to this message. They are, and I'm, I'm so appreciative of that. I'm grateful for that, and I'm grateful that you continuously come back to me time and time again. And so. Whatever I can do to continue to share this message and refine this message, I will definitely do that. With that, get outta all the violin. Thank you so much, but I really do appreciate you. All right. Please share this show with one person who needs it. If there's more, share it with them too. As the dogs bark, keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.