“Are you a Victim or a Victor?” Asked the Guard.
Let’s keep it simple, have you ever had an “AH-HA” moment?
One where — for only a moment, everything clicks, it all suddenly just makes sense?
Well, my “AH-HA” moment occurred when I heard Jim Rohn’s quote “stand guard at the door of your mind.”
And well, let me just say that having heard all of those fairy tales growing up finally counted for something because this is the moment when I visualised a literal, armoured knight guarding the door of my mind — a large wooden door set in black stone to be precise.
It’s this artistic, fairy-tale infused vision that I remember when fear creeps into the chamber, a Knight guarding the door of my mind, guarding the culmination of my existence, guarding me in my entirety.
This is what I remember when I feel my thoughts running away from me.
It is what reminds me to think about how I think and why I think like that. And why am I thinking about what I am thinking about and is that thinking serving me as a thinking being. Most of all who is doing the thinking!
Stand guard…
Fast forward a few years and believe me when I say I am a living, breathing, walking contradiction, with an archetypal medieval Knight guarding the door of my mind yet, my physical self-belonging to the modern world of construction. A world that was risky but rewarding, a world that eventually became my normal.
Well, it was normal until hearing David Schwartz’ quote “Our mind is a mental factory, and in that factory are two Foremen. Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat.”
Now you must be thinking, ‘you have GOT to stop letting quotes be the source of your “AH-HA” moments.’ Well, no I mustn’t because after spending over 20 years in construction, this quote has opened a whole new door within my mind — Knight be damned, he’s been sacked and replaced by Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat.
I reflected on the hundreds, if not thousands of construction sites I’ve been on, remembering all of the Mr. Triumphs and Mr. Defeats that I’ve come across — the ones that got the job done and the ones that got done!
Naturally, I did what I do best; I made the Foremen and the Knight allies, partnered them up in the hope of creating an impenetrable fortress, one where I thrive because of how I’ve manipulated Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat and tricked them into making my world a better one.
My mind was the construction site, the Foremen ran it, and the Knight was the gatekeeper.
Once practicing this into a habit I then entered the worlds laboratory with intention and expectation.
Stand guard…
Understand that we are the epitome of thought making machines, although smaller, quicker and a lot more unstable than any man-made factory we have today.
Instead of materials, systematic oppression and an organised system, our factory pumps out thousands and thousands of thoughts every day. Instead of wearing our workers down with minimum wage and overnight shifts, the harder we work Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat, the stronger they get.
Mr. Triumph oversees the manufacturing of positivity and serotonin induced thoughts; he provides reasons for why you can…why you’re qualified…why you matter.
Mr. Triumph has a partner named Courage, and together they stimulate and encourage us to act, to lead, and to overcome.
If you haven’t figured it out already, Mr. Defeat is proudly the complete opposite, with his ultimate purpose being to develop reasons on why you can’t…why you’re weak…why you’re incapable…why you’re not good enough.
As if we don’t dislike Mr. Defeat and his influence enough already, by default he also has a partner, one that sticks to him like a shadow, Fear.
And for context — Fear is nothing short of a complete dick! He sabotages, creates confusion, and ultimately disables us.
Both these Foremen are loyal, obedient and stand to attention waiting for us to choose who we call to action.
Our words dictate our mood and by extension, our quality of life — for perspective on just how important Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat are.
A simple example is when years ago I’d arrive at the construction site ready for a day of work, a simple “good morning” would set off a default reaction of mine going along the lines of “what’s so bloody good about it?”
This mere reaction as generic and perhaps meaningless as it sounds, had a monumental impact on how the rest of my day went — like crap. I fed Mr. Defeat from the moment I woke up expecting an unfulfilling day with a lack of energy and ambition, making him stronger and Mr. Triumph weaker.
Until I decided that it’s time to stop underworking Mr. Triumph, so I handed him the reins for a day — a trial period, if you will.
Now something you should know about these Foremen is that they never die, they’re immortal. So there he was, Mr. Triumph withering away in the corner desperate for attention, desperate to prove himself and succeed; almost as desperate as you are to just be embraced by good energy — if only you did something about it. Even something as simple as answering a “how are you this morning?” With a “Fantastic, couldn’t be better!”
Not only will Mr. Triumph survive and thrive, but so will you. Not only will he regain control of your mind, but you’ll regain control of your life. Now if that isn’t appealing or motivating in any sense then what is?
Not only do you have the opportunity to change your day and your life, but also the days and lives of those around you and maybe one day, you would’ve impacted others so much that you might even find yourself influencing and altering other people’s responses to the simple question of “how are you this morning”?
I’ve had the toughest of men, staunch brutes who over time went from answering me with a grunt, to answering me with “fantastic”. I proudly watched their being change over the years.
You are human, and part of being human is being undeniably and explicitly selfish at times. You might be feeling defensive, but the minute you accept that being selfish is inherently a part of who you are, your mind will naturally open up to so many opportunities and you’ll never stop yourself from doing something you want to do that benefits no one but you. Just don’t be a prick about it!
We choose how we feel. We control our moods, emotions and reactions and no matter what the situation, that power can’t be taken away from us because it’s not tangible, it comes from within.
We all know that one negative person who seems to have a dark cloud follow them everywhere, that one person who mopes and drags their feet through life. The one who always hands the reins to Mr. Defeat. Sounds something like, “The weather is horrible, I should’ve stayed in bed.” Or, “I couldn’t be bothered.” Or even, “look at this damn traffic, this crap always happens to me!” Sound familiar?
Now Mr. Triumph’s job is to produce positive thoughts, releasing good energy into the world. We can recognise him when we hear things like “This weather’s great, it’s crisp and cool, what a day to get stuff done. I feel so alive today, it’s amazing how well things always work out for me!”
The difference between Mr. Defeat and Mr. Triumph is more than transparent — Mr. Defeat gives you reasons for why you can’t win at life and then justifies it.
While Mr. Triumph provides explanations, and validation for why you deserve to win, why we all deserve to win.
Mr. Defeat is critical and resistant. He will transform you into a character that always plays the victim, telling you that there are certain factors, your gender, your sexuality, your age, the colour of your skin all contributing to your ultimate downfall.
Mr. Triumph does the exact opposite, he’ll nurture you and teach you how to use these differences to your advantage, he’ll teach you how to live your life.
Have I turned you off Mr. Defeat yet? Or do you wish to remain in the repetitive, routined rhythm that has no room for movement or growth?
The moment you take control of the thought factory that is your mind and begin to manufacture positive beliefs, success will come, though it won’t come naturally. Generating positive thoughts and maintaining a positive mindset and lifestyle is tiring but rewarding. Or, you could let Mr. Defeat take over and lead a life that’s tiring and not rewarding. No, really, it’s up to you.
You choose. You always get to choose.
Now back to me, I once had someone ask me “isn’t it exhausting trying to be so positive all the time?”
“Not as exhausting as being so negative”, was my response.
Negativity is mentally and physically draining not only for yourself but the people around you. Truth is, nobody will willingly spend time with a doom and gloom friend, one that looks at the glass half empty and focuses on the negative, always complaining.
Being positive doesn’t make everything easy. But it sure makes things easier when times get difficult.
Stand guard…
Want my advice? Well take it anyway!
Nurture Mr. Triumph, grow him, feed him, praise him. Work him and work him hard until he’s at the front of your mind.
Let him lead you to success, health and good fortune.
Let him attract positive people and situations. Give him the reins and watch your life transform from a predictive boring bubble to a world of endless opportunities.
Remember the laboratory I mentioned earlier? Placing a guard at the door of our mind, and leveraging Mr. Triumph in our thought factory will change our world because it is one large, holistic laboratory, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t treat it as such.
Within this large laboratory we have smaller ones that consist of many things such as our family, friends and work. You may find that the rent for this laboratory is free, except it’s not.
The cost is in the thought factory. The factory produces and the laboratory creates. Experiment in this lab with Mr. Triumph and his Knight, don’t let Mr. Defeat run amuck on his own. Remember to stand guard…
Now, connect some dots, or in this case, connect the thoughts our factories are producing to our small laboratories and you will realise that perhaps opportunity is staring right at you and you didn’t even notice it until now.
So, I want you to ask yourself two questions that could determine who you’ve let guard your mind up until this moment.
Do you take control of your circumstances or are you a slave to them?
Are you a Victim or a Victor?
Written 4th January 2019
