Cause and Effects, and Conditions

i was and am still reading the book "The Universe in Single Atom" by Dalai Lama. Rather deep for me.. but beginning to see some light..  ;P

i like page 146 as it says "the Buddha himself argued that if one wishes to avoid certain types of results, one needs to change the conditions that give rise to them. So if one changes the conditions of one's state of mind, one can change the traits of one's consciousness and the resulting attitudes and emotions".

So, if i want to break free from my present problems and situation, i need to alter my thoughts first.. which will change my behavior and speech and affect the environment around me.. and likely it would bring a change to the overall results of my life..