“In previous blogs, I touched on the powerful art of rehearsing success in your Inner Mental Movie Theater, where you revisit empowering past experiences and rehearse a future rich with possibility. It’s a simple practice, yet like a seed, it grows into something far greater than you may first imagine. Now, I’d like to invite you a bit deeper, to uncover something even more transformative!

How to stop reacting to life and begin responding with clarity, calm, and compassion. There’s an old story I love to share. It’s a Zen parable about a man rowing his boat on a quiet river. You may remember it, or maybe it’s new to you. Either way, I invite you to lean in. One evening, this man was peacefully drifting along, enjoying the stillness, when he noticed another boat heading directly toward him. He called out. No response.

Again, louder. Still nothing. As the boat drew closer, his irritation swelled into anger. When the boats finally collided, he was ready to unleash his rage, only to discover the boat was empty. No one to blame. No intention to be upset with. Just a vessel carried by the current. In that moment, the man’s anger vanished. And THIS is where the teaching begins.

DEVELOP THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE, MINDSET AND BELIEFS TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF

It wasn’t the collision that caused his suffering, but the meaning he assigned to it. His mind filled the boat with assumptions, someone is careless, someone is disrespectful, someone should have done better. But in truth, the boat was empty all along. What changed wasn’t the event. What changed was his understanding. Today, neuroscience supports what the Zen masters knew centuries ago.

A study from Harvard researchers found that nearly half of our waking thoughts are not about what we’re doing in the present moment, but rather about imagined scenarios, many of which stir unnecessary stress and emotional turmoil. When we become lost in these mental stories, we suffer not from life itself, but from our interpretation of it. Our inner narrative becomes the obstacle. This is where practice makes all the difference!

When you train your mind, not just with affirmations or fleeting motivation, but through deliberate, repeated mental rehearsal, you begin to see more clearly. You create the space between stimulus and response. Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, once wrote that in that space lies our power to choose. And in our choice lies our freedom and growth. This is about awareness, choice and letting go. It’s about responding.

DEVELOP THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE, MINDSET AND BELIEFS TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF

Not reacting. The man reacted out of his conditioning. He made many mental assumptions, none of which proved to be accurate. From his conditioning and the assumptions his anger grew. He reacted to the situation. Nothing about the situation changed when he discovered the boat was empty. What changed was within him in that moment of realization. Another might have turned the anger on oneself or remained angry anyway.

Imagine for a moment a life where you don’t get thrown off balance by every challenging moment. Where instead of stewing in resentment over a perceived slight, you pause, smile inwardly, and recognize, you’ve just met another empty boat. It’s not a fantasy. It’s a learnable skill!  This is exactly what we work with inside Create Your Best Life Using Einstein & Tesla’s Genius™.

Because these visionary minds understood something most people never do. Mastery begins in the unseen. It begins in the mind. Einstein spent hours walking and imagining thought experiments. Tesla could build and test machines entirely in his imagination before ever touching a tool. These weren’t magic tricks.  They were mental blueprints. Internal skill sets. Elmer Gates did something similar.

DEVELOP THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE, MINDSET AND BELIEFS TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF

And you can do the very same thing. If you’re willing to practice. Here’s what happens when people don’t learn these skills. It’s like navigating a river blindfolded, reacting to every bump and splash as if the world is against you. You may still get downstream, but you’ll arrive exhausted, bruised, and wondering why it all felt so hard. I see it time and again, good people, intelligent people, paddling furiously against the current.

Instead, they could learn how to steer with ease. When you study and apply the success formula, and I mean truly apply it with consistent, mindful repetition, you begin to glide. Obstacles become ripples, not rapids. You respond rather than react. You lead your life instead of being led by circumstances. And it doesn’t take a fortune to learn it. In fact, think of it like learning to fish rather than buying fish every day.

One empowers you for life. The other leaves you dependent. This isn’t about a temporary high. It’s about lasting transformation. It’s about learning to see empty boats and smile, not because nothing matters, but because now YOU choose what matters. Tonight, as you settle in, breathe a little deeper. Feel your body supported. Let your mind gently recall a moment today when you felt upset.

DEVELOP THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE, MINDSET AND BELIEFS TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF

Was there an empty boat involved? Did you fill it with assumptions, with blame, with ego-fueled stories? And now that you see it, can you let it go? Just release it like a leaf drifting downstream. Because that’s where peace lives. Not in changing the river, but in changing how you navigate it. And when you’re ready to truly transform how you live, how you think, how you feel, I’ll be right here. I’d love for you to join us in the course, where we don’t just talk about change. We practice and do it. We embody it. We live it. You’re not alone in the boat. Let’s navigate this together. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes