By: Laura Bennett
When you consider the parameters of your life and what you feel is possible, is the ceiling set by your circumstance, or your thinking?
Do you feel that life would change if only you were someone else, somewhere else? Or could personal, transformational change happen if you adjusted your thoughts?
Erwin McManus is a futurist, pastor and author. In the business world he’s known as a mentor, fashion designer and filmmaker and in his hometown of Los Angeles he’s the lead pastor and visionary behind Mosaic.
“Thinking is directly connected to action,” Erwin said in our interview. “A person can contemplate all their life and never change, but if you change your thinking – and it genuinely changes your mental construct of reality – then it will change your actions, and without question change you and your life.”
Speaking about the impact our mind has on our personal fulfilment, performance and joy, Erwin shared how he’s drawn on the life of Jesus to inspire his new book Mind Shift: It Doesn’t Take a Genius to Think Like One.
“The highest level of thinking does come from the scriptures and does come from the person of Jesus,” Erwin said.
“There are writers today who in the public domain really advocate the thinking of Marcus Aurelias, really advocate the thinking of Aristotle, but no one is really advocating the thinking of Jesus.
“We preach about Him in the church, but that becomes irrelevant to the conversation about wisdom and insights, strategic thinking and living life in a principled way.
“Jesus’ teaching and the principles in the Old Testament are some of the greatest pieces of literature on human wisdom, on how to live a life that’s really full and rich and whole.”
When we make a “mind shift” and apply the genius thinking of Jesus to our lives Erwin says it draws all of us to different pursuits, but he feels a “deep sense that I’m connected to the person I’m created to become”.
“I’m accessing the deepest level of my essence, my talent, my passion, my genius,” Erwin said. “And I’m able to translate that into real life.
“One of the great frustrations in life is when the idea of who you are supposed to be and the idea of who you are, are so far apart that it creates the space for depression, despair and a deep sense of disappointment.
“I think a huge part of our emotional wellbeing is connected to us becoming the person we truly know we have the potential to be.”