Control of Thought: The First Virtue of Maat

 Long years before the Torah was written, Maat was the moral and ethical system used in ancient Kemet (Egypt) more than 4,000 years ago. Maat has multiple meanings, but according to The Husia, its sacred text, it essentially means moral and spiritual rightness with the Divine, nature, and other humans. It is also an interrelated order of rightness that requires right relations with and right behaviors toward the Divine, nature, and other humans.

According to Maat, 10 Virtues define an ethical person, the first of which is control of thought. This ancient virtue is especially important for people today who seek to be entrepreneurs because how one thinks and what one thinks determines what one does. In accord with the ancient Kemetic understanding of the importance of controlling one’s thoughts, modern business leaders and coaches stress the importance of a successful person’s control of thought as the key to business and personal success. Modern business leaders are not alone in their urging the necessity of a person’s control of thought.

Quantum physicists have shown that thoughts are the creative force in the universe. All created things were once conceived in thought before their appearance in material form. So, if one’s thoughts are negative, the universal Law of Attraction will draw negatively created things, persons, and circumstances to that one. On the contrary, if one’s thoughts are positive, serving the needs of others and tend toward doing right, then that same universal Law of Attraction will draw positively created things, persons, and situations into that one’s orbit.

The first leadership lesson for the aspiring entrepreneur to learn here is that all thoughts of impossibility, doubt, and failure with respect to starting a business—whether starting from scratch or buying a franchise or license—must be eliminated from your mind. You create your own success or failure by what thoughts you allow to stay in your head.

The second leadership lesson you must learn is that you must compete against yourself. Your true opponent does not exist outside yourself. You are the only one who can be your worst enemy by failing to believe in yourself and your capacity to succeed. Fight every thought that comes to you saying, “You can’t,” “You don’t have what it takes,” and “Don’t take the risk.”

Dare to control your thoughts and you will control your world!