Positivity is the fuel for success. Positive thinking is the habit of focusing on the good in every situation, even when things go awry. How many times have we had our mood ruined by the most random events, like getting one’s car stolen the day before you are set to go on vacation, or you injure yourself on a family vacation, or the business deal you were sure would come through goes cold. Any one of these events can send one into a tailspin, and any reasonable person would understand. However, to all these unexpected events, the right response is to remain calm and positive. No matter how dire or stressful a situation may be, if you are alive…you can be grateful for something – POSITIVITY. Easier said than done? Yes, of course. But needed and necessary for success.
A positive mindset is the free hack you can tap into to improve your odds of success and live the life you have been waiting for. If you can tell yourself ahead of time that no matter what happens, you will choose to see the good or the opportunity, then what other choice do you have but to buckle down and find solutions to your issues? When you decide the only option is to remain positive, you stop wasting time self-flagellating, self-pitying, or self-consoling. You simply put on your positivity armor and go about the practice of finding and implementing solutions to your problems as they come up. Because let us face it, the only thing that matters are your ACTIONS …not how bad you feel about your problems.
Of course, like many concepts that imply behavioral change, it is difficult for us to adopt the notion that simply adopting a positive mindset can have tremendous impact on your life. Because:
- Negativity feels good: Feeling bad for oneself feels good…even if only for a short period of time. And when we are upset, it is tempting to opt for whatever form of good feeling we can access, as quickly as we can, no matter how destructive it may be. This is our brain’s shorthand for making us feel better.
- We believe in justice and fairness: We have drawn a social contract with the universe that if we are good and mean well, then bad things should not happen to us. However, that is not the reality of life. Sometimes no matter how good we are and how hard we work, things may still not work out in your favor. Difficult to embrace but this is just a FACT of life that cannot be contested…like gravity and must be embraced.
- We worry about the future to increase the odds in our favor: Worrying about the future cannot possibly contribute to increasing the outcome of some future event in our favor. The only thing that does, are our actions. For example, it’s useless to worry about failing an upcoming exam. The only way to potentially impact the outcome of how well I do on an exam is studying for the exam.
Negativity is low-grade dark energy and has little to no rewards. Yes, you can get temporary relief from being negative and groveling in your feelings, but nothing can be achieved to improve the situation through that mindset. So, in essence, it is useless. A positive attitude on the other hand, if nothing else, can simply make you feel better…for a much longer period than a negative attitude will. Several other benefits can be derived from having a positive attitude:
- Happiness: A positive attitude evokes happiness. Happiness does not depend on external reasons. It comes from within you. It is a matter of your perspective. The more positive your outlook, the more satisfied you are with your actions, the happier you are with yourself.
- Better Health: People who think positively are generally more energetic and healthier than those who think negatively. It is a scientific fact. Your disposition impacts your overall health
- Motivation: A positive attitude will increase your success by giving you the motivation to tackle your problems. It will make you believe you are getting closer to what you want. It also motivates you to reach goals that exceed your expectations.
- Creativity: Let us face it, the more creative you are the better you are at solving problems. However, it difficult for creativity to exist in the same space as negativity. Creativity taps into the art of endless possibilities, while negativity taps into a doom and gloom space. Hard to come up with solutions when you are consumed by thoughts of doom and gloom.
- Expanded Network: Positive thinking impacts on interpersonal relationships. People like optimistic people and tend to want to stay away from negative ones. We all have struggles we are grappling with, so people generally are looking to engage with others that can help them solve their problems, not add to it. In addition, negativity is dark energy and drags people down. No one needs that.
As we wind down on 2020 and start to put plans in place for 2021, remember one simple, free, and endless resource you can tap into to power your efforts and thereby fuel your success in the new year…POSITIVY. Bathe yourself in it!
