Have you ever noticed that much of our world is negative?
The best example is to listen to the news; story after story of negative. But also, listen to people talk on their cell phones, chat in the office break room, or at a restaurant. The majority of this talk is negative.
I think as humans, it is our default to go negative. Unless we make a conscious decision to be positive and have an optimistic outlook, our tendency is to focus on what’s wrong, who did what bad, and everything that’s not right. Why is that? Have we just been hurt too many times? Have too many people let us down? Are we living in a time where it’s “every man for himself” and we’re not real confident in the man representing us?
Being surrounded by so much outward negativity, especially some we’re so conditioned to that don’t even notice, what do you think is happening on our inside? What messages are we also sending to ourselves?
Think about one thing you want to change in your life, one goal you have. What are the messages you’re sending to yourself about that thing. Do you think you’re capable of reaching that goal? Do you think that change is possible? What messages go along with your desire to make that change? Honestly think about what you say to yourself about that goal. Write your thoughts down.
I just did this exercise this morning and I was amazed that even though I am a positive person and make a conscious choice to think well of things, a surprising amount of my thoughts were limiting the possibility of reaching my goal. It’s scary to think of what the outcome of this exercise would have been if I weren’t a person committed to be positive.
I encourage you to pay attention to what you say to yourself. I beat myself up for years for so many things: being overweight, failing so many diets, not achieving anything worthwhile. It wasn’t until I took a look at the messages I sent to myself and attacked them and got rid of them that I was able to start feeling more confident, in control and healthy.
These days, I choose to be positive. I choose to be mindful of what I say to myself and believe that I can achieve my goals. With the right attitude, I can do anything I desire. The only limit to what is possible is what I choose to belive.
Even if I’m not the person today who can achieve my goal, I will change, learn and grow to become the person who can reach it tomorrow.
What will you allow yourself to be?
I think every bit of negativity I can chip away at impacts my outlook on the world as well as how others view me. One of the things I try hard to do is to take care with what kind of information I expose myself to on the Internet. There is so much negativity out there that every few months I take a look at what has been a regular on my Internet rounds and I cut it out if it is not a positive influence. That doesn’t mean that everything I read is always full of cheer and good news, but if it isn’t beneficial in some way or if it tears down or demeans others, out the window it goes!