You move toward what you think about most of the time. It’s a simple but profound truth that dictates your career path, your finances, and even your personal life. Once you grasp this, you start to see how your entire reality is shaped by your dominant thoughts.
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Meaning
Your focus is your steering wheel. Where you direct your mental energy is the single biggest predictor of where you’ll end up.
Explanation
Look, I’ve seen this play out so many times with clients and in my own work. It’s not some woo-woo law of attraction thing. It’s a practical law of cause and effect. Your brain is a problem-solving machine, and it’s always working on whatever you feed it. If you’re constantly thinking about risks and everything that could go wrong, your mind will find ways to avoid action, to play it safe. You’ll move toward safety and stagnation. But if you’re obsessed with a goal, if you’re thinking about the “how” and the “when,” your mind starts spotting opportunities you would have otherwise missed. You literally rewire your brain’s reticular activating system to filter for what you want. It’s like setting a GPS destination. You start moving, often unconsciously, toward that target.
Quote Summary
Reading Level55
Aesthetic Score87
Origin & Factcheck
This is straight from Brian Tracy’s 2000 book, The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success. It’s a core principle in his teachings on goal-setting and personal effectiveness. You’ll sometimes see similar ideas floating around, but this specific, powerful phrasing is Tracy’s.
Attribution Summary
Author Bio
Brian Tracy, a prolific author gained global reputation because of his best seller book list such as Eat That Frog!, Goals!, and The Psychology of Selling, and created influential audio programs like The Psychology of Achievement. He is sought after guru for personal development and business performance. Brian Tracy International, coaches millions of professionals and corporates on sales, goal setting, leadership, and productivity.
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Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | You move toward what you think about most of the time |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2000; ISBN: 978-1576750805; Last edition: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Number of pages: 288. |
| Where is it? | Chapter: The Law of Attraction; Approximate page from 2000 edition |
Context
Tracy places this concept among laws about clarity, purpose, and concentration. He’s not talking about wishful thinking; he’s talking about the disciplined, repeated focus required for business success. The context is all about taking control of your mental resources to achieve tangible results.
Usage Examples
Here’s how I’ve seen this work in the real world:
- For an Entrepreneur Stuck in a Rut: I had a client who kept talking about market saturation and competitor moves. He was moving toward more fear. We flipped his script. He started a daily practice of focusing solely on his unique value proposition and his ideal customer. Within 90 days, his entire strategy shifted, and he landed his two biggest clients. He moved toward opportunity.
- For a Team Leader: If your team meetings are 90% problem-oriented, guess what you’re all moving toward? More problems. Shift the focus to solutions and best-case scenarios. You’ll be shocked at how the team’s energy and output change direction.
- For Personal Growth: If you constantly think about “not having enough money,” you’ll make decisions from a place of scarcity. But if you focus on “creating value” and “increasing your income,” your behavior will subtly shift to make that happen. You’ll take that extra course, you’ll ask for the raise, you’ll start the side project.
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Common Questions
Question: So, is this just “positive thinking”?
Answer: Not even close. Positive thinking is a mood. This is about dominant thinking. It’s the thing that occupies your mental bandwidth. You can be a positive person but if your dominant thoughts are about obstacles, you’ll still move toward them. This is more about your cognitive focus than your emotional state.
Question: What if my dominant thoughts are worries? How do I change that?
Answer: You have to consciously replace them. It’s a discipline. When you catch yourself worrying, you don’t just stop. You actively pivot your thought to a solution, a goal, or a desired outcome. You literally schedule time to focus on your ambitions. It feels forced at first, but soon it becomes your new autopilot.
Question: Does this mean I can just think my way to success without action?
Answer: Absolutely not. The magic is in the word “move.” Your focused thinking dictates your actions. It makes you see the relevant book, have the right conversation, and take the calculated risk. The action becomes a natural byproduct of a focused mind. You can’t just sit and visualize a promotion; you start acting like the person who already has it.
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