Use The Power of Positive Thinking To Enhance Your Life

Don't underestimate the power of positive thinking. It is definitely not about being pollyannaerish (is that a word? ) and ignoring problems. It is not about sitting in the park under a tree chanting ohhmmmm and hoping for the best!

Thinking positively means you acknowledge reality BUT then you turn your undivided attention to where you are heading ... consistently focusing on feeling good about where you are AND feeling excitement about where you are going.

If you are thinking but I've got to be focused on my problems. I can't just be all positive about the future. You've got the wrong end of the stick.

When you are driving and you see a car accident happen just in front of you - do you turn your entire focus on the car accident or do you look for an escape route to ensure you safely navigate your way around the problem? Life is no different.

You MUST acknowledge the problem .... you can't ignore a car accident in front of you, however, nor should you give it your undivided attention ... use either of these tactics and you'll plow right through it and create an even bigger problem!

As a leader you are responsible for finding problems .... but your bigger obligation is for finding solutions. And that's why you have to master tapping into the power of positive thinking.

Seriously, do you think you can be at your creative genius when you are negative, pessimistic and disheartened?? That one question there provides you with the clue as to why it is important to get your thinking where it needs to be.

The power of positive thinking articles listed below contain many ideas, tips and tactics you can adopt to really fine-tune your ability to get more of what you want through your mindset.

Articles On The Power of Positive Thinking

Steps of Positive Thinking Use the ABCDE model to train your mind so that you become unstoppable no matter what comes your way ...

Controlling Your Self-Talk Did you know that you have approximately 50,000 thoughts each day! So how are you talking to yourself and where is your thinking taking you?

The Power Of Visualization: Visualization is a very powerful tool. Discover how the Australian's finally won the Americas Cup using Visualization.

Affirmations: You affirm all day long ... so use these tips to make sure that the affirmations you are making about your life are heading you in a positive direction - rather than holding you back.

Affirmation Examples: Here are some example affirmations to help get your creative juices flowing.

Optimism vs Pessimism Optimists tend to outperform pessimists in most arenas in life. Discover how you can enhance your style of thinking so that you can perform at your best given any situation

Limiting Beliefs Tips and techniques to help you overcome limiting beliefs that are holding you back

Control Your Destiny Discover the importance of having an internal locus of control so you feel more flow in your life.

Believing In Yourself What do you believe you are capable of? People with a strong sense of self-efficacy generally perform at much higher levels. Follow this four step process to build your belief in your capability.

Building Another's Confidence Here is an example of me using the four steps of building self efficacy with John. John was one of my team members whose lack of confidence was holding him back.

Self-Esteem and Leadership Your self esteem can definitely stop you from getting the results you want. In this story discover how Steve took a bad situation and make it a whole lot worse because he was so worried about what others might think he didn't think clearly enough to resolve the situation.

How to Build Self Esteem Use these four easy and painless steps to build both your self esteem to achieve the success you deserve. (There is a very important tip here for parents who want to enhance their children's self-esteem)

Overcoming Low Self Esteem If you are focused on creating a high performance workplace you want to ensure that you have the conditions in place that will help in overcoming low self esteem.

Acceptance and Belonging There is a strong link between feeling like you are accepted and belong and self esteem. Put these elements in place to build your people's confidence.

The Power of Positive Thinking In Your Professional Life

Here's quick example of how not tapping into the power of positive thinking could limit your career success.

Imagine you want to ask for a salary increase. You know that you deserve it - you and your team are delivering great results, you've recently found that you aren't being paid on par with some of your peers and you haven't had an increase for a while. All good reasons to ask for that raise!

However, you start to focus on 'reality'. There's a global economic downturn, your boss seems to be having a 'bad hair year', the last guy that asked for an increase got refused and then was fired a month or two later for 'performance issues'. Looking at 'reality' you decide asking for a raise is a waste of time if not downright risky!

But what if instead you looked at that reality and then decided to focus on finding a solution to those problems!

Maybe you might find solutions like -- Finding ways other groups are recession-proofing their businesses and adopting similiar tactics. Asking your boss to consider a bonus/profit sharing scheme. Finding a way to lead your boss to offering a raise without having to ask for it.

When you give more focus to solutions than the problems you are more likely to get the results you want. Focusing on the problems ... you are more likely to give up and move into a spiral of helplessness.

Visualizing is an important part of positive thinking. For example, visualize yourself

• Having exactly the right response during a tense/high impact meeting,
  
• Making higher risk decisions confident in the knowledge that you can handle any hiccups either before or as they happen
  
• Talking with your manager in a calm, confident manner about the value you are bringing to the organization and why an increase in your salary is justified.
  

Visualizing is about preparing yourself to perform at your best form ... getting your mental attitude in proper perspective and moving toward what you want - rather than focusing on what you don't want. Do this well and you will find life flows better and you feel frisky, alive, engaged and overflowing with confidence.

The Power Of Positive Thinking in your Social Life

The power of positive thinking also has an impact when you interact with people you are in some kind of relationship - be it business, dating or marriage. Thinking negatively will run counter to your desire to have quality time and experiences with those people you care about and want the best for. Negative thinking creates self-doubt and insecurity which leads to diminished self worth .. and this leads to fractured relationships - because people who don't feel good try to bring those around them down to their level - so they can feel better.

Who do you know who is generally a positive person? How do you feel after you have spent some time with them?

Contrast that with a person who is more a doomer and gloomer - how do you feel after you have spent time with them?

Keep your attention turned towards:

• thoughts that cause you to feel good about yourself
• finding and focusing on the best in others
• conversations and topics that uplift and inspire

and I can guarantee that you will naturally become a hub that people will be drawn to ... simply because you feel good to be around. And better yet, you will really like you ... your self-esteem will soar ... and it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of success.

The power of positive thinking is that you come to believe that your life can be exciting and meaningful and as you believe it then you begin to live it. How do I know - because I've been practicing these principles for years and my life just gets better and better and better ...