3 Simple Reasons Why There Is Power In Positive Thinking
“If you dream it, you can become it…you can do anything that you set your mind to…you’re only as small as your dreams…”
Yeah…I don’t know about that.
No matter how much I practiced basketball as a kid, I was never going to “be like Mike” (Michael Jordan’s Gatorade ad blitz).
Despite those inspirational quotes by Oprah and Tony Robbins, no dreaming or “mind setting” was going to make this happen for me.
Despite it’s link to the self-help industry, I do believe there’s power in positive thinking. And not because of some best-selling book or Oprah-approved guru.
For the healthy skeptics out there, let me take the “woo-woo” out of this tired self-help concept.
“By the way, I’m the first person to encourage the healthy impulse to improve oneself. However, the world of ‘self help’ is a slippery slope…and a lot of people out there are making a lot of unrealistic promises.”
In fact, the ability to improve yourself and learn from your mistakes, i.e. resilience, is a MUST-HAVE leadership skill. Without it, you’d crash and burn with every setback.
Before we put positive thinking under the microscope, let’s look at the nature of thoughts:
Thoughts are just pieces of information that enter your mind and then disappear. However, they have the power to influence what happens to you…
Have you ever experienced the self-fulfilling prophecy pitfall…you think you’re going to fail at something, and you do?
For me, it often happens with mechanical things – no matter how easy the task is, I often approach it with two thumbs.
Unless you have the confidence and skill of Air Jordan, you’ve experienced this common pitfall.
The Power Of Positive Thinking
DailyOm’s Madisyn Taylor puts a positive spin on things: “How you think can have a profound effect on your ability to recognize opportunity…you begin to create the circumstances conducive to you achieving what you desire.”
Think about it – if you’re engaging your negative brain chatter, chances are you won’t be in a state of mind to seize those rare opportunities that pop up when least expected.
For a few brief years in my expat life in Munich, I had the chance to do some voice work for BMW, Red Bull, and a few other high-profile companies.
I just happened to be a native English speaker living in a time and place that was looking for an English-speaking voice actor. Right time, right place.
Nevertheless, it took some courage to pursue this opportunity and wrestle with the Imposter Syndrome when the studio lights came on. If I'd been hanging my head with my eyes closed when this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself, I’d have surely missed it.
“The right mindset is just as important to hear and answer the knock of opportunity as the right time and place. Think about a time when you were looking for something and you didn’t stop until you found it. That’s because you were convinced that it was out there – the power of positive thinking in action.”
“You are more likely to imagine positive situations or outcomes and disregard the thoughts related to giving up, failure, or roadblocks. What the mind expects, it finds.” – Madisyn Taylor
3 Simple Reasons To Stay Positive
1) Increased confidence.
If you’re expecting a positive outcome, you feel more in control – both when setting goals and facing challenges.
Feeling more in control can lead to increased confidence. There’s no better source of personal power than confidence.
2) Sharper focus.
It’s impossible to ignore or disregard negative thoughts. But you DON’T have to indulge them.
Remember that person at school that was always saying mean or untrue things about you? You had a choice – believe them or move past them. It’s the same with thoughts. You hear them but you don’t have to focus on them.
“By embracing the positive brain chatter and letting go of the negative stuff, you improve your ability to focus on the thoughts that lead to positive outcomes.”
3) Better problem-solving skills.
“When you're sure that you are worthy and that achievement is within your grasp, you start to relax and look for solutions rather than dwelling on problems.”
Ms. Taylor’s call for a more relaxed solution orientation reminds me of Tim Gallwey’s sport-transcending tip to find the sweet spot between relaxation and concentration.
PRO TIP: Cultivate, “relaxed concentration” to improve your problem-solving skills. Read The Inner Game of Tennis.
3 Easy Ways To Practice Positive Thinking
1) Make the commitment.
Once you decide to embrace positive thinking, you start to believe that your goals are attainable and solutions to your problems are within reach.
Positive thinking might not change your situation overnight. BUT the effect on your mood and the quality of your experiences will be profound.
If you go to the cinema expecting to have a good time, chances are you’ll have a good time - even if the film isn’t great.
2) Practice and persist.
Like with most things, practice makes things easier. With persistent practice, they become habit.
As positive thinking increases your chances of success in any area of life or work, this is a habit you want to grow and develop.
“The next time a negative thought enters your mind, try replacing it with a positive one. Instead of saying: “I’m so sick of my boss asking for my help…I’m buried in work.”, try saying: “I’m so busy right now because my boss trusts me with more and more responsibility, which increases my visibility in the organization.”
With practice and persistence, you can train your mind to reframe thoughts that don’t serve you into ones that do. As the brain is full of incessant chatter, you’ll never run out of opportunities to practice.
3) Build personal resilience.
Positive thinking helps you navigate times of chaos and uncertainty with confidence. The recent global pandemic was one of those times.
The grounding belief that things will eventually get better is also a key success factor for personal resilience – a MUST-HAVE skill circa 2023!
However, resilience is much more than a skill. It’s a mindset that helps you bounce back from setbacks or unexpected events (global pandemics, for example).
Invest In Your Personal Growth
So if you’re skeptical when hearing some of those larger-than-life claims out there, you’re not alone – I’ve felt it too!
These 3 simple reasons (WHY) and 3 easy ways (HOW) are why I’m convinced in the power of positive thinking. Just because you might find it in the self-help section of a bookstore doesn’t mean it’s “woo-woo”, i.e. esoteric.
If nothing else, remember this – staying positive in your thoughts improves your ability to focus on the thoughts that lead to positive outcomes.
All of us could us a few more of those!
Thanks for reading,
Tim
P.S. To learn how Coaching For Peak Performance can help skyrocket your Personal Growth, book a FREE Discovery Call.