Throughout our lives we are all under the control of outside influences to a degree. As children we start off being totally dependent on our parents, and then as we grow up we are all influenced by other controlling forces - education, churches, society, laws, the media, and much more. As we finish our education most of us become employees and then we also come under the influence of our bosses.

We also have degrees of control over other people. If you're a boss, a parent, a sibling, a husband or wife you may be able to exert your influence on other people, but one thing you will never be able to fully control is the mind or the will of another person. That is, of course, unless another person lets you control their mind or will.

However, the important thing to remember here is that this also means that no on else can control your conscious mind - unless you let them. You and you alone have the power to control your mind, in fact this is the one thing in life that you do have total control over.

When you fully accept this, you realize that this gives you great power, but also great responsibility. It means that you and you alone are responsible for your thoughts, feelings and actions. How you use this power will ultimately determine how your life turns out.

There has been a great deal of research undertaken to better understand how our thoughts, feelings and actions are interconnected. Some of the conclusions that have been reached, although simple, can have a remarkable effect on our success.

If we want something, images and pictures that we actually see, or see in our mind's eye, bring about thoughts in line with the images, which in turn trigger actions and behaviours that help to bring about the actualisation of the original images or pictures.

If, for example you are determined to have a new car and know exactly what sort of car, the model, the colour, the extras included etc and regularly hold this picture in your mind, this image would trigger thoughts and ideas which in turn would cause you to take actions that would ensure that you achieve your goal. You can enhance the process even more by regularly looking at pictures or even putting pictures in places where you'll regularly see them, as this will add detail to your images and ensure your goal is never far from your thoughts.

One very important thing to be aware of is that the exact opposite also holds true, ie your actions can trigger thoughts, emotions and images in line with your actions.

In fact, research has shown that it is easier to make yourself feel differently and to change your thoughts by changing your actions and behaviour, than it is to change the way you act through changing your thoughts and feelings. This is simply because it's easier to control your actions than it is to control your feelings and thoughts. If you decide to take control of your actions, the actions you take will inevitably have an impact on your feelings and thoughts and the images you see of yourself.

This is great news because it means that you can change how you feel about almost anything through your actions. There's a very simple way you can test this for yourself. The next time you are feeling miserable or angry or unhappy for any reason, make yourself stand up and put on your biggest and best smile. You may like to go even further by laughing out loud or triumphantly punching the air, or jumping up and down like you've just won the lottery. Unless I'm very much mistaken, you will have made yourself feel completely differently in less than a minute. You will probably then have to make a concerted effort in order to go back to feeling how you did before.

If this simple exercise can have that sort of an impact, what do you think taking actions in line with the sort of person your want to be, or the goals you want to achieve, could have on your success and happiness?

Many writers claim that one of the greatest success secrets is to act as if it is impossible to fail at whatever it is that you want to achieve. Be very clear about exactly what it is that you desire, and then act as if your success was inevitable and that failure is not an option. If you truly believe, your actions will change your thoughts and feelings and you will achieve your goal.

Actively deciding to think like a highly successful person is the first step to becoming a highly successful person. This is because, as has been said countless times before by personal development and human achievement experts, you become what you spend the most time thinking about. What you most intensively believe, and what you constantly think about, you actually are, or become. If you think like a successful person and keep your mind positive and optimistic, you will be a success.

The more you feel you are in control of your life, the more peace of mind and mental well being you will experience. This sense of control also forms the basis of high achievement and happiness. If you work on your thinking and your self confidence so that you totally believe you can do anything you commit to, and always focus your mind on what you want, you really will be able to achieve anything.

'If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.' - Nora Roberts