Last week we determined that most successful people in the world—in business, in family, in life, in sports, in entertainment—are masters of controlling their own states.

This is a crucial issue when it comes to prospecting in your career--because too often we don't to the things we know we should because we don't feel like it. We "wait for inspiration" or the energy, or the confidence to build itself. When you do this, are you in control of your state, or is your state in control of you?

If we gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in controlling your state, then there are two things you must learn to master:

1. your mind

2. your body

No big deal, right? In fact, there isn’t much else to consider, is there? As we indicated before, your state is the result of whatever messages you send yourself, combined with the physical condition of your body.

You may ask, “What about our environment? Doesn’t that influence our state?”

Sure. However, the environment is perceived through the mind. The same environment that favors a positive state for one person may favor a negative state for another. Take a crowded, networking event for example. One person in this environment may go into a positive, excited, fun and happy state—fed from the many people about meeting and greeting and talking about their business.

Another person may, in the same environment, go into a state of anxiety, quite possibly because he or she does not do well in such as situation. It’s all about how one perceives their environment.

Don’t think you can control your state? Think again. You do it all the time—or at least you attempt to.

Ever come home from a long day working, and after completing things around the house or with the family, just want to kick back and watch TV or read a book? You basically want to unwind, deflate. Whatever you call it, you are attempting to change your state.

Indeed, changing our state is what we are trying to do all the time. Most compulsive behaviors (substance abuse, overeating, excessive television, etc.) are attempts to change states. So are positive activities such as reading, meditation and exercise. Pharmaceutical companies promise cures for undesired chronic states, such as anxiety and depression, by treating physiological conditions that are believed to be tied to them.
However, in most cases, physiology is only part of the solution. The messages you send to your brain—your “self-talk”—often plays an even greater role in your state and thus your resourcefulness. The mind is more powerful than the body. Anyone who has mastered their state will attest to this.

Stay with me on this next week, when we will go over specific techniques that, with some practice, will help you to shift your state on command.