Train Your Mind to Think Good Thoughts

So that you live well, have more joy in life, and sleep like a baby.

Your outer world reflects the landscape of your mind.

It’s morning. The alarm rings. You didn’t sleep well, so you hit snooze. Moments later it rings again, dragging you into the day. You rise reluctantly, stretch, and stumble to the kitchen for a cuppa, already feeling behind.

Almost by habit, you glance at the news. Within seconds your peace is gone, replaced by frustration over the climate, the banks, politics, the uncertainty of the future. Worry creeps in about yourself, your family, the world. Before you’ve even had breakfast or a shower, your mind is heavy, restless, and consumed by shadows.

This is how many of us live. From the moment we open our eyes, we are assaulted by negativity. And what begins in the morning lingers through the day, then haunts us at night. We wonder why we toss and turn, why sleep feels shallow, why joy is fleeting. But it is simple: a restless mind cannot rest. A mind full of negativity cannot find peace.

The answer does not lie in softer pillows, darker rooms, or the right temperature. The real cause of restless sleep is not outside you; it is within you. And what causes restlessness is not life itself, but the thoughts you allow to fill your mind.

The good news is this: you are not powerless. You can choose differently. A good night’s sleep begins with a good day’s thinking. Peaceful thoughts create peaceful nights. And when you begin to reset the way your mind works, you discover something far greater than rest: you discover joy. The kind of joy that is steady, natural, and unforced. The kind of joy that makes life feel lighter, more harmonious, as though it is flowing with you rather than against you.

Good Company

It all starts with good company. The ancient Sanskrit word for good company is Satsang. However, Satsang, or good company, isn’t limited to the rare presence of an enlightened sage offering wisdom and spiritual truths. It is far more accessible, and it begins with the choices we make every day.

What you surround yourself with becomes your company, and that company shapes you into who you are.

At the physical level, it’s the food you eat, the air you breathe, and the images and sounds you take in. Fresh, simple food nourishes the body, while wholesome sights, sounds, and environments help keep your mind pure and steady.

At the emotional level, good company means cultivating uplifting feelings, such as awe, kindness, and love, rather than allowing yourself to be pulled into envy, greed, anger, or resentment.

At the intellectual level, it’s food for your soul: serious reflection, meaningful study, classical works, scriptures, and writings that elevate thought, rather than the noise and distraction of shallow content. Small choices matter: opening a sacred text instead of scrolling social media, listening to music that inspires rather than agitates, and surrounding yourself with people who lift you rather than drain you.

Good company, in this sense, is not occasional; it’s a constant discipline of what you allow into your body, mind and intellect—your heart and soul.

Good Thoughts

From good company arise good thoughts. Just as the soil determines the health of the tree, the company you keep shapes the quality of your mind.

Think of it like a sport. A tennis player doesn’t win by accident; he wins by practising until good shots become second nature. In the same way, we must train ourselves to think good thoughts, again and again, until the mind itself becomes steady, strong, and luminous.

The practice is this:

Every day of our lives, our attention is fixed on everything else except Truth—the changeless Reality within us.

Yet from the moment we wake, our focus is scattered outward to the body, clothes, food, work, the phone, the family, the endless distractions. All these get attention. But how much attention, in a single day, do we give to the very source of our life?

There’s a law in life: As you think, so you become. If you think of the body, body, body—you become a physical being. If you dwell irrationally on your feelings, you become an emotional being. If you think rationally about your choices, you become a rational being. But if you think of the Spirit within, you become a spiritual being.

The choice is always yours. Wherever you place your attention, that is what you become. Focus low, and life feels heavy and chaotic. Focus high, and life begins to flow—smoother, calmer, more energised, more fulfilled.

The world around us is always in a constant flux of change. Bodies change, emotions fluctuate, and circumstances shift like the wind. Attach your mind there, and you will live in constant agitation. But Truth, the Self within, is steady, unchanging. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When you anchor your mind there, peace becomes natural, and joy becomes your resting state.

And the way to turn the mind toward Truth is through Satsang, good company. What you read, what you hear, who you are with, what you dwell on; all of it trains the mind to think either downward or upward, toward shadows or toward light. With good company, your mind learns to think thoughts that uplift, thoughts that heal, thoughts that liberate.

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If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Also, don’t forget to tune in each day for bursts of inspiration, like these:

You are not who you believe yourself to be. You are not this limited personality. You are your unlimited and eternal Self.

Love is allowing another to be exactly who they are, and not expecting them to be any different.

You don’t have to have the app, you can simply go straight to The Elder Sage.

Till next time,

Be Well,

Meredith — The Elder Sage