Dear Mr. Self Development,  

Does the music I listen to matter; it’s just music,…. right?

Mike  

Mike, it absolutely matters what kind of music you listen to.  Your mind takes in every word from your environment and uses it for your growth (just like a seed takes in the nutrients from its environment in order for it to grow).   

If you plant a seed in sand, what’s going to happen?  The answer is not too much, because there’s not sufficient nutrients in the sand to support the growth of the seed.  Constantly listening to negative music is like planting your life in sand, it will hinder your growth.  

Every word you hear becomes a part of your environment, it goes into your subconscious mind and silently influences your decisions, whether you like it to or not.   If you’re listening to the song, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all” that’s going to influence how you think about yourself, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it (accept not listen to it).

Just like it’s important not to fill your mind with negativity from the media, it’s important not to listen to negative music.  Why? Because the words you hear create pictures in your subconscious mind, and those pictures direct your actions.  As an example: If you think about a piece of cake long enough, you’re going to go get that cake, but it all starts with a picture in your mind. 

The words, “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all,” brings up and enforces certain pictures that you will eventually live out.  

There is a scripture that translates something like this, this is the Mr. Self Development Version (SDV), “guard your thoughts with all diligence, because your thoughts will become your life.”  We could turn this around and say, guard what you hear with all diligence, because what you hear will become your thoughts, and your thoughts will become your life.  

Let me give you another example  

Mike, you wouldn’t work out in the gym for two hours and then go eat a bag of potato chips for dinner.  Why not?  Because after you finish working out your body starts searching for nutrients to re-build itself.  If the only nutrients it finds come from potato chips, then it won’t have too much to work with.  If you’re trying to build a successful life, you’re going to need encouraging words in your mind that paint encouraging pictures (not negative words painting negative pictures).

So, if you’re singing a song, and you don’t want the words or pictures from the song to become a part of your life, don’t sing it.  I don’t think the song ”Killing Me Softly” paints the right pictures in your subconscious mind. If you’ve been singing such songs, you should start singing more positive songs to replace the negative pictures you’ve been carrying around.  

So you see the music that we listen to is critical in determining the person we become. 

Now, I’m not saying that you can never hear a negative song in your life, but I am saying that you should monitor what you listen to and use appropriate discretion, because your thoughts become your life.  

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