LIFE is a fight for territory-the territory of the mind. The moment you stop fighting for what you want; in other words the moment you stop controlling and directing your mind what you do not want shows up. And what shows up in the domain of your mind will manifest in the domain of your life. Life is a game-a game played on the rules of giving and receiving. Whatever you give out in thoughts, words and deeds comes back to its source which is you. And the mind is the playing field for the game of life.

Whatever thoughts take roots in your mind will bear fruits in your life. Training your mind to work for you implies controlling and directing your mind. Nothing great ever happens by chance or accident. In fact, the universe is governed by laws or principles and chance or accident can never be found in the universe. Gaining mastery over your mind is the key to mastery over life. Whatever controls your mind controls your destiny.   To effectively pilot the affairs of your life you must engage in intentional or on-purpose thinking.

You must consistently examine your thought life; you must think about what you are thinking about. Is your mind a dumping ground for all kinds of garbage? Or is it a clean palace of breathtaking splendour? The only thing in life that you have absolute control over is your mind. And thoughts are the primary cause of everything in life. There is a common quality that is evident in the lives of the truly successful-successful people focus on what they want. There is also a common trait evident in the lives of people who are found in the failure-domain of life-these people focus on what they do not want.

Genuinely successful people focus on the ideal life they have committed to creating-they focus on the virtues they want to develop in their character; they focus on the strengths of their spouse; they focus on the good qualities in their children; they focus on the good in every situation; they focus on the good in people; they focus on what they want to accomplish in life. However, people who fail through life-these people focus on their weakness; they focus on the weaknesses of their spouse and children; they focus on the weaknesses of people; they complain about their situation; they focus on how life is too hard and everything is working against their progress; they focus on the poverty which they so desperately want to escape but instead they are attracting more of it by the nature of their thoughts.

Whatever you focus on you are fashioning it into your life. Whenever you think, you think your life into existence. Whenever you speak, you speak things into existence. As your thoughts flow, so flow the issues of your life. Sustained thought implies sustained experience. What you focus your thoughts upon will appear as your life. What you focus on expands and grows into existence. Whatever thoughts that persists in your mind perpetuates in your life. Your life can never be whole when your mind is old.

Right living begins with right thinking. We must make a committed decision to choose right and great thoughts. You need to examine what your beliefs are and why you believe them. Examine your thought life; what are the thoughts you have about yourself and your abilities? What are the thoughts you have about your finances; your health; your family; your time; your job; your relationships; your future? In training your mind to work for you, investment in time and effort is a vital necessity.

Meditation is the key to controlling your mind. Moments of meditation quiets the mind and enables you to control and direct your thoughts. Engaging in habitual meditation probably first thing in the morning and the last thing you do before getting to bed will increase your mind power and lift you to a higher life. Meditating on clean, positive and powerful materials such as the Bible and other books refreshes the mind and shapes your perspective in life. Perception fertilizes the conception of reality. A mind out of control is a life out of control headed for a crash. A mind under control is a life under control headed for an ideal destination.