The Tricks Of Positive Thinking

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill.


We have all heard enough about the power of positive thinking, right? You only get about 4 million hits when you type in the key words of ‘positive thinking’ in Google search. Positive thinking—easier said than done? Of course it is.

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of positive thinking but then again I don’t know many experts who can tell you how to do it. That is because it is all a common sense thing and common sense is always difficult to explain or teach. You see it when you see it and use it when you have it.

Here are some very valuable insights for those who would like to get a better handle on their own ability to think more positively.

1. Most thinking is unconscious. Opps, we start out with a formidable obstacle. Brain research tells us that most of the physiological/mental thinking we do is unconscious, so how do we analyze the content of our own thinking to determine where it is positive or negative? Slowing down long enough to think about your own thinking is not easy in this nanosecond instantaneous world we live in, but you will get nowhere by continuing with the speed game. So like it or not, you must discipline yourself to slow down at times to think about what you are telling yourself about another person or event, and then slowly notice the results you are getting with your own feelings and outcomes. Once or twice and you are on the right path.

2. Things aren’t always as they first appear. You might be thinking your thoughts are positive when they are actually subtly negative, or at least negative enough to attract negative, undesirable consequences. Wanting to get over an illness, lose weight, beat out another person for a promotion, or rid a marriage of conflicts are not positive thoughts that will get positive results. Thinking about good health, getting to the right weight for you, becoming an excellent employee who deserves a promotion and doing something to create a happy marriage are positive thoughts. Of course it takes a lot of discernment of your own thoughts to finally notice the sometimes subtle difference between these separate thinking styles. Again, once or twice starts you on the right path.

3. You must have ‘negative’ to appreciate ‘positive.’ The Yang and Yin of life involve both positive and negative things, or at least this and that dualistic categories, against which we compare and contrast our experiences. We probably carry things a little too far with over-ascribing good and bad-like qualities to these opposite things like wealth and poverty, beauty and homeliness, and truth and fiction. Lessening the tendency to over-flavor things as positive or negative is a very good way to release the iron-like grip that negative thinking may have on you. After all, if you don’t experience dark dreary rain you probably can’t appreciate the brilliance and warmth of sunlight. As it turns out, they are both just different sides to the same coin, just like positive and negative thinking.

4. You usually fail before you succeed. Nobody that has mastered the art of positive thinking was born that way. They had to overcome lots of negative thinking before they could succeed at being able to influence there own thinking to be more positive and get more positive results…(in becoming an over night success during a ten-year trail period). It is hard work and a gradual process, so be patient so you can be more sensitive to recognizing the moment of transition between failure and success. If you are presently failing with too much negative thinking (or getting too many negative results from your thinking), it is mainly so you can learn to succeed with more positive thinking, maybe sooner than you think.

5. Questioning basic assumptions is good. Personally I believe common sense starts when you finally wake up to the unavoidable realization that what you think you know may not necessarily be so. Then you start questioning your own basic assumptions and other things you are certain to be so, only to find out the real truth, like some of these other useful insights. One good assumption to question in your pursuit of positive thinking is the real value of the consequences you are getting from whatever thinking you are doing. When you don’t like the results you are getting, just trace them back to the thinking that created them.

6. You don’t get what you want until you want what you have. This is so true that it is boring, but never-the-less there is a lesson that must be learned. One of the best caveats of accessing the power of The Secret (Law of Attraction), is that it is a very good practice to show appreciation of what you do have. Even when I was homeless, jobless. loveless and penniless, I did have good health humor and friends. I certainly don’t have it all now, but I do have much to be thankful for that I am not bashful or frugal in acknowledging and appreciating (or as our back door sign says. “We may not be all together, but together we have it all.”)

7. Don’t be too hard on yourself (unless you really deserve it!). Most of the time we are doing better than we imagine and are in fact making good progress at growing up and improving into our best self. This includes doing what we need to do in taking advantage of the power of positive thinking. Probably the only time you should beat yourself up is when you fall asleep at the wheel or forget to return from your break. Onward and upward.

What's the big picture for your life?

"We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship." -- Omar Nelson Bradley

Every day, there are so many details to be managed. So many distractions. So many demands placed upon us. No wonder we end up allowing other people and circumstances to set the agendas for our lives.
It's understandable. Is it acceptable? NO!

Think about it. It's your life! It's all you've got. What are you making of it? What does the big picture look like for you? If your life were captured on film, would you (or anyone else) want to watch it?
If this question pierces your heart and mind, please MAKE THE TIME to reflect on what makes your life meaningful. Dream a little. What would you do if you could do anything at all? Connect with the longings of your heart and resolve to attend to them. Your meaningful dreams are worthy of being brought to life.

And don't sell yourself short! If you can conceive of something, you can achieve it. Call forth the power of your imagination to create a vision of what you most want your life to be. Feel yourself living that life in your imagination. Do something every single day to bring you closer to making your big picture a reality.

When you clearly know what you want from life, you have the foundation for saying "No" to those activities that pull you away from your dreams. Meaningful goals will give you the courage to make empowering decisions. They'll give you the ammunition to resist being swayed by the agendas of others.

You have choice in every moment. Choose what matters for you.
Every day, take just a few moments first thing in the morning to connect with your goals. Every day, as often as you remember, ask yourself, "What's most important for me to be doing right now?" And remember that what's most important is not usually what's most urgent.
So cast yourself as the hero of your own feature film. Make it as big and dramatic and powerful as you like. Wear the hats of producer, director and star. Be creative with this magical opportunity to express the uniqueness of who you are. Then watch yourself grow to fill this big picture of your life!

"The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach." -- Benjamin E. Mayes

"The world would have you agree with its dismal dream of limitation. But the light would have you soar like the eagle of your sacred visions." - Alan Cohen