The Truth About Positive Thinking
A lot of people are very skeptical about positive thinking because they have tried it in the past and did not see any real improvement in their lives.
Those who dismiss positive thinking are in fact right about one thing – Positive thinking alone will NOT change your life.
The truth is that there are no magical genies waiting to make your dreams come true just because you maintain a positive attitude.
This does not however mean that positive thinking is a waste of time. On the contrary, positive thinking is the first step of a powerful process that can and will change your life if you choose to apply it.
Here is the truth about positive thinking…
Positive thinking is only effective when it inspires you to take positive action towards achieving your goals.
Over time, repeated positive action becomes a positive habit and it is these habits that will bring you the positive results you desire.
The main reason people become disillusioned with positive thinking is because they mistakenly expect positive thoughts to lead directly to positive results. When things don’t improve, they then dismiss the concept of positive thinking entirely. This is a big mistake.
Once, you understand that positive thinking is the first step of a powerful four step process, you will discover that the true benefit of positive thinking is that it gives you the impetus to take action.
This Week’s Action Steps:
1. Visualise your goals each day and fill your mind with a positive image of the outcomes you want to achieve.
2. Use these positive thoughts as a springboard to take action.
3. Understand that repeated action becomes a habit.
4. Establish the habits that will lead you to achieve your most important life goals.
Success, Positively
You may often hear about the power of positive thinking, and in a very negative way think to yourself: “what a load of crap!” I can relate to this way of thinking – I spent many years being cynical all the time. It did me no good to be that way, and I eventually realized that I was setting myself up for disasters time and time again.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you can change the world by being positive all the time. I also won’t tell you that you can avoid negative things happening in your life, just by being positive. What I am going to tell you is this: a positive attitude and mentality, success, and positive outcomes all go hand in hand with each other. In other words, if you believe you can achieve something, and you maintain a positive attitude even when times get tough, you will prevail. If you give up, of course, you will fail. Basically; what the mind thinks is what the mind will attain and / or make happen. So, if the mind thinks that failure is immanent, it sure is! Your thoughts are shaping your life, whether you want them to or not.
A great example of this is in a competition where you have two or more athletes all up for one prize or goal. Alan, Mark, and Joey (real scenario, made up names) are all competing at the same level, and are of very comparable skills and physical attributes.
Alan feels ready to take on the competition even though he knows he is up against tough competitors, and he is confident that he will win – it shows in his actions, even on his face. Mark feels pretty confident but he’s still not 100 per cent sure of himself, and Joey, though he knows he is an amazing athlete, does not feel up to par to be competing with Alan and Mark.
Joey has a negative attitude toward the outcome of this competition, before it has even begun. Just like the way the positive energy showed on Alan’s face, Joey’s negative attitude is shining strong too. Unfortunately for him, the judges of this particular competition are looking for the athlete who is most confident in what they do, even if they do it with slightly less gusto than those against them.
Alan, of course, won this competition, though even he agreed that he was not the better athlete of the three. It was his opinion that Joey was likely to be the best in this competition, but he was determined to win, and maintained his positivity through to the end.
A cheesy example, maybe, but if you take anything from this, than I don’t mind being a bit of a cheeseball. If I can sway just one negative natty to try positive thinking I have done my job here. Just remember that positive thinking and attitude don’t just come over night. It takes a lot of practice to go from being negative all the time to being positive. It gets easier once you see results, so just be positive – positive thinking will prove its power to you to!