Middle Tennessee hypnotist, philosopher and motivator M.C. Radford encourages everyone to think positively and live life with a healthy, optimistic attitude. Here, he shares more points from his book Higher Thoughts for Everyday Living, suggesting that readers meditate on one each day—and be amazed at the positive changes that transpire in their lives.

1 – When you realize who you are, you will realize who and what you can be. The goal of the universe is harmony.

2 – People look for the good life in the wrong stall. They worry far too much about how their friends and neighbors are doing. Searching in the material or mechanical world will never bring the good life, only a counterfeit existence.

3 – Competing with the world is never the answer and will only bring you misery and frustration. There is nothing wrong with wanting to live in luxury, but never desire it because Mary or Tom has it. Go after it because you want it.

4 – When you compete, you are saying you have to cut someone down to raise yourself up.

5 – All wealth, good health and prosperity are in your mind now. Meditate on these things and they will come to be in your everyday life.

6 – What you continue to think about, you bring about; what you worry about, you also bring about. What you fear becomes your prayer, and your prayer is always answered.

7 – Whatever you have in your life now is the reflection of all your thoughts and feelings. There is only now. The thoughts you think today will be your children of tomorrow. So if you entertain good thoughts in your mind all day long today, you will have good children tomorrow.

8 – Did you know that 90 percent of the general population is ashamed of their body in some way? What if your body, your brain and your nervous system were a machine made up of many parts and you were simply the life unit that lived in and used it as a servant in this visible world?

9 – On a ship you have a captain and crew. They use the ship to take them wherever they want to go. Then the ship runs aground or maybe it sinks. The entire crew, or the life unit, leaves the ship and goes home. After a time this unit takes another ship to go on another leg of the journey.

10 – Then there’s the human body. You are the captain and you have a crew of many cells that runs the body and uses the body in this visible world. Then the body stops breathing. Would you not take your crew and leave the body and go home (back to God) for a while before you continued your journey—perhaps with a new body?

11 – You are no more the body than electricity is the motor that turns the crank or the wire through which electricity travels. This captain knows everything about the sea and running a ship. But let us say the ship (your body) has an ego or conscious mind that is fighting for control and that gives the captain orders to go to London. The captain will navigate the ship to London using the most direct way (if left alone) unless the boss (conscious mind) starts giving orders to go west 100 miles or east 100 miles, thereby getting the ship off course. Now since the captain (your subconscious mind) knows exactly what needs to be done, the boss should simply give the captain the order and let the captain do his job.

12 – In your life, the subconscious mind knows everything and can do anything; so never tell it how to do something. You only need to outline the goal, and it will take you there by the shortest and fastest route possible.

13 – How do you give the subconscious mind orders? Simply build a vivid picture in your mind of the end results you want and reinforce the picture of the desire you want many times a day. You will steadily move closer until you reach your goal.

14 – The subconscious mind only knows to create in your life what you continue to picture in your mind. Your vivid picture becomes the blueprint. Like a paved highway, it will take you smoothly to your destination or goal.

15 – It is a scientific fact that there is a life force. This life force, this sea of energy, this sea of intelligence—some call it God, some call it the universal mind, it is called by many names, but regardless of what you call it—will supply all the energy, all the wisdom, all the answers to every problem, need or desire.

16 – This field of intelligence is what we came out of. When our body stops breathing, we go back into this field of energy, because this field of energy or intelligence is our real home.

17 – When we are in this field of intelligence we can have no stress or negativism of any kind. Because we are one with it and we are given free will, when we come to this physical or visible world, we forget who we are. So we start building an ego. The reason we start to have stress and tension—which is the front-runner of all negativism and all the problems in our life in this visible world—is we build this new entity by developing the conscious mind. We then have to make a decision every time we encounter any situation that is new to us.

18 – For example, we go outside into the cold. Since we are uncomfortable, which causes stress, we learn to put on warm clothing to eliminate the stress and feel comfortable. This goes for every negative situation we encounter in the physical or visible world. Now the more we rely on reason and the more we make our egos stronger, the rougher road we will have ahead. So we forget where we come from. That is why Jesus made the statement, “You must lose your life in order to find it.” In other words, your ego must die before the Father can do the work in your life. As He said, “It is not Me but My Father who doeth the work.”

19 – When we encounter enough pain, it will turn us back to God or the field of intelligence. The more we start to listen with our inner ear (which is called intuition or the direct link to God), we will have all our needs met at every turn. Then we will have no more stress, no more sickness, and no more fear—only peace and harmony forevermore.

20 – If you spend 15 minutes a day meditating or praying on the answer to your problems, then your problems will be a thing of the past. The trouble with most people is that they don’t stay prayed up. But more importantly, most people don’t even know how to pray. There are many different religions and none of the leaders seem to know what true prayer is. They teach their members only lip service. You should never ask God for anything as the Bible says He knows your needs before you ask. True prayer is mentally picturing what you want and then thanking the Supreme Mind for already sending it to you.

21 – If you would like to change or improve your life, you must learn exactly what the self image is and how it works. What is the self image? Your self image is a blueprint in your mind and brain. You will never think or act any differently unless you change your self image. You will always think and act exactly as you conceive yourself to be.

22 – If you believe you are a failure, that is a part of your self image, and you will always find a way to fail in everything you do.

23 – Now how did you attain a self image of failure? If you were born in poverty, you were exposed to lack and limitation that was all around you. So this became a part of your self image. If you as a young person start hanging out with negative people such as dropouts, bullies or people who think the world is out to get them, then you will naturally start building the self image of failure. All complainers have a low self image. As long as you complain, the situation will remain the same.

24 – If you want to change the self image of failure to a self image of success, then the failure blueprint you have always held in your mind must be changed to a success blueprint. You must hold the success pictures in your mind until they override the failure pictures. At that point you have reprogrammed your self image. This also applies to being in ill health, being unhappy or having any other negative situation in your life.

25 – What is a thought? You cannot see a thought, you cannot hear a thought, you cannot taste a thought, you cannot smell a thought, and you cannot feel a thought. A thought is not physical, so if it is not physical then it must be spiritual. Thought is a spiritual activity. Spirit is the creative principle of the universe. The only activity the spirit possesses is thought. Whatever the spirit thinks it creates.

26 – Thought is the most important product we have. Thought rules the world—thought rules every government, every bank, every industry, every person and everything in existence. People who do not think will always be under the control of those who do.

27 – Thought is extremely powerful. A person was cured of throat cancer when told distilled water was a new cure. He was told this new drug had to be given by a nurse at exactly the right time and in the right amount. Another patient was cured of cancer because the doctor used a different kind of instrument to take his temperature; the patient thought it was a cure. His belief was his cure. You have heard the saying, “The faith or belief of a mustard seed can move mountains.” The mountain that is spoken of is the mountain of fear, worry, ill health and more.

28 – Every problem that has ever been solved was solved by the mind. Every cell in your body has intelligence. Every emotion has a chemical match. Every thought causes the brain to manufacture a chemical to correspond.

29 – There are many things to which people are addicted. Some people are addicted to drugs or alcohol; others are addicted to anger, sickness, worry, tension, anxiety, going to a doctor, laziness, unhappiness and on and on. Your mind can cure any addiction. You have the power.

30 – The universe is an organism. You are an organ in the universe. You have many organs in your body and all your organs have cells. All your cells are controlled by the brain, and the brain is controlled by your mind. So who can heal you but yourself?

31 – Many people have a disease called homeostasis. Homeostasis is clinging to old outdated ideas. Then there are many who have psychosclerosis, which is hardening of the attitudes.