The Law of Cause and Effect

Comment: Many people move through life reacting to life rather than molding and shaping their life.  They cause the effects they experience without realizing that they have full control over the outcomes.  This essay by Brian Tracy hits home that everyone can control their destiny. 

The Law of Cause and Effect
By
Brian Tracy

Everything happens for a reason; for every effect there is a specific cause.

Aristotle asserted that we live in a world governed by law, not chance. He stated that everything happens for a reason, whether or not we know what it is. He said that every effect has a specific cause or causes. Every cause or action has an effect of some kind, whether we can see it and whether we like it or not.

This is the granddaddy law, the “iron law” of Western thought, of Western philosophy. The relentless search for truth, for the causal relationship among events, has led to the rise of the West in science, technology, medicine, philosophy, and even warfare for more than 2,000 years. Today this focus is driving the technological advances that are changing our world so dramatically.

This law says that achievement, wealth, happiness, prosperity, and business success are all the direct and indirect effects or results of specific causes and actions. This simply means that if you can be clear about the effect or result you want, you can probably achieve it. You can study others who have achieved the same goal, and by doing what they did, you can get the same result.

Success is Not an Accident

Success is not a miracle, nor is it a matter of luck. Everything happens for a reason, good or bad, positive or negative. When you are absolutely clear about what you want, you only need to copy others who have achieved it before you, and you will eventually get the same results that they have.

This is referred to in the Bible as the law of sowing and reaping, which says, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap.”

Sir Isaac Newton called it the third law of motion. He said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

For you and me, the most important expression of this universal law is: “Thoughts are causes and conditions are effects.”

Put another way, “Thought is creative.” Your thoughts are the primary creative force in your life. You create your entire world by the way you think. All people and situations in your life have only the meaning you give them by the way you think about them. And when you change your thinking, you change your life, sometimes in seconds!

The most important principle of personal or business success is simply this: You become what you think about most of the time.

This is a great discovery upon which all religions, philosophies, metaphysics, schools of thought, and theories of psychology are based. This principle is as applicable to individuals as it is to groups of individual and organizations. Whatever you see or experience is the expression of the thinking of the people behind the phenomenon. Ralph Waldo Emerson recognized this when he wrote, ”Every great organization is merely the lengthened shadow of a single man.”

Your Choice, Your Life

You are always free to choose. In the long run, no one forces you to think, feel, or behave the way you do. Rather, you choose your emotions and behaviors by the way you choose to think of the world around you and about what is happening to you.

Dr. Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania, calls this way of reacting your “explanatory style”. It is the way you interpret or explain things to yourself. It is the critical determinant of everything you are and everything you become.

The good news is that your explanatory style is learned. This means that it can be unlearned as well. Your way of explaining things is under your control. You can interpret your experiences in such a way that you feel happy and optimistic rather than angry or frustrated. You can decide to react in such a way that your responses are constructive and effective. You are always free to choose.

Your thoughts and feelings are continually changing. They are quickly affected by the events around you. For example, when you receive a piece of good news, your attitude immediately brightens and you feel more positive towards everyone and everything. If, on the other hand, you unexpectedly receive some bad news, you can immediately become upset, angry, and short-tempered, even if the news is inaccurate or untrue. It is the way you interpret the event to yourself that determines how you react.

How You Can Apply this Law Immediately

1. Examine the most important parts of your life – your family, your health, your work, your financial situation – and observe the cause-effect relationship between what you think, say, feel, and do and the results you are getting.
2. Analyze how you really think about yourself in relationship to the kind if life you are living. Be absolutely honest. Consider how your thoughts in each area are causing, creating, and maintaining the situation around you. What changes could you make in your thinking to improve the quality of some part of your life?

References:

Misner, I and Morgan, D. (2004). Masters of success: proven techniques for achieving success in business and life. pp 47-49. Canada.