💫 Don’t look down at your wallet. Look up at the world.
You have to be willing to choose different thoughts. 🧠
If you are unwilling to choose different thoughts, you cannot blame anyone but yourself when your life doesn’t change.
We often underestimate how much power a single thought has. Yet, we wear our thoughts like uniforms — repeating the same ones every day and then wondering why our life feels like déjà vu. I used to do that too. Especially when it came to money.
When my father got sick — the breadwinner of our family — all I could think was, “Life is going to be hard.” And because I grew up in a culture where men were usually the providers, I couldn’t see any other way. I wore that one thought — “life is going to be hard” — every single day like it was stitched into my skin.
The Habit of Looking Down
It’s the same when we enter adulthood and start facing our own money struggles. The moment we see an empty wallet or a low bank account, we look down — down at the problem, down at what’s missing — instead of looking up at the world, the universe, the endless field of possibilities that exist beyond what’s visible.
We forget that imagination is our greatest power. The moment we decide to say,
“Hey, this thought I’m wearing — the one that says I can’t, the one that says this is all I have — I’m done with it,” everything begins to shift.
When you allow yourself to think differently, you open a door to new solutions, new ideas, and new ways of living.
No One Can Think For You
People can give you a billion pieces of advice, but if you’re determined to stay wrapped in the same old thought, don’t be surprised when ten years pass and your life looks exactly the same.
Change starts with a decision — and awareness.
You must learn to observe how you think and what you think. How those thoughts affect your emotions, your reactions, and your results.
It’s a daily commitment — to look inside your mind and identify the recurring thoughts that are quietly shaping your life.
Once you see them clearly, you can begin to replace them — one by one.
Money Thoughts
Let’s take money as an example. If every time you receive your salary you think, “It’s not enough,” then that thought becomes your financial uniform. You keep wearing it — and life keeps proving you right. But what if you chose a new thought?
What if you looked at that same salary and asked, “How can I make this grow?”
“What new skill could I learn?”
“What creative idea could I explore?”
That’s how I started my first Airbnb business. One day, instead of obsessing about how little I was earning, I started imagining how to make money while I was sleeping. That single shift — from lack to creativity — connected the dots between our empty home and a business that changed everything.
And that’s why I love what author Chris Guillebeau wrote in the preface of his book The $100 Startup quoting him:
“More than a decade ago, I began a lifelong journey of self-employment by any means necessary. I never planned to be an entrepreneur — I just didn’t want to work for someone else. If I needed money, I learned to think in terms of how I could get what I needed by making something and selling it — not by cutting costs elsewhere or working for someone else. This distinction was critical because most budgets start by looking at income and then defining available choices.
I did it differently — starting with a list of what I wanted to do and then figuring out how to make it happen.”
Isn’t that powerful? He didn’t start from limitation — he started from imagination. He looked beyond what he had and focused on what he could create. That’s exactly what happens when you decide to wear a new thought.
A Creative Opportunity in Disguise
Life’s challenges are not punishments — they’re invitations. Each one asks: Will you think the same, or will you think differently?
When something feels impossible, remind yourself that billions of people have walked this earth before you. They’ve written books, shared stories, left trails of solutions — all accessible today at the touch of a button.
There’s always a way if you’re willing to think a new thought.
Your Turn
Ask yourself today:
- What thought have I been wearing like a uniform?
- How has it shaped my life?
- What new thought am I willing to choose today?
Because every breakthrough begins with a new thought.
And you can’t build a new life wearing the same old ones.
With fierce love,
Salima
