The power of positive thinking

There is power in positive thinking. Although, it’s not the power you’ve been led to believe.

Positivity won’t suddenly bend the laws of nature and society to your will and make all your dreams come true. It’s not a magic weapon or secret to unlocking your best life now. 

It is a remarkably useful and essential tool to have on your toolbelt. 

Having a positive outlook and attitude improves your performance. 

One reason is that your emotions and thoughts aren’t an extra hurdle for you to climb. 

You can focus your energy and think about the actual problems in the real world, instead of the ones in your head. 

Why create more stress and work for yourself by thinking negatively? 

It might be a difficult habit to break, but it’s one worth it. 

Practice finding the good in every situation and focusing on it. Then set to banishing negativity from your mind. 

Complaining won't get you far

Complaining won’t get you very far. 

In fact, it'll keep you from far more than you’d imagine. 

It’s not that being negative or focusing on the negative is annoying to those around, although it is. It’s that being negative, complaining and making excuses hurts your ability to perform, to get things done. 

When you’re in a negative mindset, you’re less responsive, less precise, and slower in almost every way.

Positivity, on the other hand, is linked to better performance across the board including greater speed and accuracy. 

You can’t afford to let negativity hold you back or keep you down. Too much is riding on it. 

The good news is that being positive is a learned behavior. You can do something about how you think, and what you allow yourself to say. 

You can choose a more positive attitude and tone. 

You can condition yourself not to complain. 

It will take time, but it’s worth the effort because your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, and your actions determine your outcome. 

Feelings are a tricky thing.

They can simultaneously be your best friend and your worst enemy. As with most things, there is a dichotomy. There are two paths to how you treat your emotions. 

One puts too much stock in them and believes them good guides for decision making etc. 

The second sees them as triggers. They use them as sign posts that tell them to get in the game and change how they behave. 

Negative emotions like anger, fear, or frustration alert you to a problem within your own heart and mind. These feelings serve as warning sirens that give you the chance to change paths before things get ugly and out of hand.   

It’s a small distinction, but an important one. 

One uses these feelings as the basis for behavior, while the other allows the same feelings to trigger better and more controlled responses. 

Changing how you look at something changes everything, even when that change is something small and noticeable only within your mind. 

What You Focus On

Have you noticed that the more you focus on a problem or mistake the more you repeat it?

That’s because your focus determines your output. 

What you focus your energy on is what you’ll produce. 

In other words, your behavior follows your mindset.

If you’re focused on not doing a particular thing, chances are you’re setting the stage for it to happen again. And again. And again. 

While taking things seriously and holding the line is important, so is focusing on the right things. 

Don't waste time and energy dwelling on the negative. Focus intently on the positive instead. 

There is a positive side to every problem you encounter. Focus on it. 

It is always better to be for something positive, than against something negative. 

Discipline your mind to think in this way. Discipline it to focus in the right direction. 

Change your thinking, and you’ll change your life. But as with everything else, that’s going to require discipline.