Focus: Positive Mindset
Welcome to the 23rd Edition of MotivateUs.com's Newsletter
My Dear Friend,
What does it take to keep going, keep striving and trying? A Positive Mindset.
Sure, there's a lot of craziness happening in our world, no doubt about that. Can we change what's going on? Or can we change ourselves? Does it have to be a big change? No, but if you find that negative thinking starts to creep into your life, you have to know how to turn it around.
First, don't watch the news every time it's on and keep away from negative people. Don't play into their drama and trauma. Be in control of you and the type of people you surround yourself with.
Second, start reading more positive material, like what we have on MotivateUs.com - with over 14000 pages of quotes and well over 1500+ articles/stories/essays and poems, believe me, there's enough reading material here to keep your attitude and thinking positive.
So let's begin.
Let's start learning a little more about developing and maintaining your Positive Mindset!
Love, appreciation and thanks,
Marlene
Something I'd Like To Share:
Life's Toolkit
More Valuable than Your Junk-DrawerYou probably have a toolkit, or a junk drawer, that contains tools that you use to perform tasks such as cutting paper, tightening screws, gluing things together ... Have you ever tried to cut paper without scissors? Tighten a screw with your fingernail? Get something to stick together without glue? You probably have - and wished that you had (or found) the appropriate tool.
And yet, you probably perform life tasks without giving any thought to using appropriate life tools - the tools that enable you to more effectively perform tasks related to the demands and challenges of everyday life.
It's time to check the contents of your life toolkit to determine if you have forgotten, or are missing, some vital tools!
Visualize opening up your life toolkit and dumping out the contents. Next, visualize organizing the layout of the toolkit into 4 compartments.
- Label the first compartment "ME" - this is where you will keep the tools you use to enhance your abilities and diffuse your obstacles.
- Give the second compartment the label "OTHERS" - this is for tools to improve your interactions with others.
- For the third compartment, give it the label "MAXIMIZE" - this will contain tools designed to help you get the most out of what life has to offer.
- On the fourth compartment, put the label "TROUBLESHOOT" - you'll need these tools for when things go wrong.
Organizing your life toolkit and acquiring new tools should be an ongoing project. The objective of this article is to get you started!
In the compartment marked "ME" include tools such as positive thoughts, understanding how personal filters influence how you evaluate and process information, techniques to control unproductive worry and to manage stress, and techniques for practical problem solving.
It is not possible to discuss all of the tools that can go into your toolkit compartments in the context of an article. However, to illustrate how using appropriate life tools can benefit you, let's look more closely at a particular tool. The tool of positive thinking is a good one.
You have often heard that you need to have positive thoughts. Do you know why? It is important to understand why in order to effectively utilize it as a tool. Here's why.
Thoughts that receive your attention, whether they are good or bad, go into your subconscious as ideas. Your subconscious then looks for opportunities to manifest these ideas as events in the real world.
For example, let's say that you are driving to a busy part of town and it will be necessary to park the car. If you approach the situation with negative thoughts, such as, "I hate parking in this part of town. I'll never find a spot", your subconscious will cause your eyes to see the parking spots that are taken. If you change your approach and think positive thoughts, such as, "I'm sure I'll find parking easily enough. Many have gone before me and they have found parking", your subconscious will cause your eyes to see the opportunities, such as, a parking garage or a car that is just leaving a suitable parking spot.
Therefore, if you have positive thoughts, you are more likely to discover positive things. If you have fearful thoughts you are more likely to find that which you were afraid of. As Henry Ford said - "whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right". So, your thoughts are a powerful tool that impacts your behaviour and your behaviour creates your circumstances. Positive thinking is an essential tool for your toolkit.
Let's move on to the other toolkit compartments.
Likely, the greatest external factor influencing you is other people. They have their own thoughts, perceptions, expectations, strengths, and weaknesses. They are a constant source of demands and challenges that you need to deal with effectively.
Therefore, you need tools for the compartment marked "OTHERS". You should include tools such as giving others the benefit of a doubt, understanding 'venting/solving' interactions, understanding insecurity and its effects, understanding and identifying mirroring, and techniques to facilitate effective communications.
The world is full of possibilities - so is your life. In the compartment marked "MAXIMIZE" you'll want to include tools such as appreciation, fun, courage, being true to yourself, and ways to find your own meaning of life and happiness.
The world is not perfect. You're not perfect. Your family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and strangers are not perfect. Things may not go according to plan. People may disappoint you. So, as the Latin Proverb says, "if the wind will not serve, take to the oars".
In the compartment marked "TROUBLESHOOT" you'll want to include tools to deal with things like depression, disappointments, perception distortions, "poor me" attitudes, negativity, anger, grief, nightmares, and unsolvable problems.
This exercise of organizing useful life tools will help you to remember to use appropriate life tools to perform various life tasks and enable you to better deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
There are far more tools that you can add to each compartment than what I have briefly introduced here. Your life toolkit is an extremely valuable asset. Keeping it well stocked and organized, so that you can use the appropriate tool to perform life tasks, will facilitate success and happiness in your life.
--- Copyright © 2007 Denise Lammi
Denise Lammi, B.M.A., C.A. is a Chartered Accountant, former partner in a successful firm, instructor, co-author of the personal development book "Your Own Devices": A Life Manual and author of numerous professional development seminars. She believes that both personal and professional development is required for an optimal quality of life.
Be sure to visit her website: www.yourowndevices.ca
An Article / Story To Ponder:
If You Don't Have One Already
How Do You Develop A Positive Mindset?
A positive mindset is very easy to obtain, but it takes time and patience.Your brain has the ability to store and accept two kinds of thoughts: Positive and Negative. Some people harbor more negative thoughts than positive, but most people are 50/50 and their minds play a tug of war per se', on a daily basis. However, there is something you can do about it.
When you get a thought into your mind, a bad thought or negative thought, you need to think of a positive thought you can pull out of that bad or negative thought that will make that thought, a positive one. As you keep doing this, day in and day out, thought after thought, the thoughts that your mind accepts will start to sway to the positive, where they will start to outweigh the negative.
As time goes on and you repeat this process and implement it into your life, as a new way of thinking and storing thoughts, you will find that your thoughts and mindset will become positive in nature and negative thoughts will not even be allowed to enter your mind. They will stay on the outside where you will be able to brush them off very easily and forget they ever existed.
In time, all bad emotions will go away as well like anger, resentment, depression, doubt, and fear, to name a few. You will also gain confidence in yourself as a person and learn more about yourself; things you never realized about yourself such as your inner strength, passion, desire, willingness and courage.
This is not an overnight process and will take time... maybe a long time. So be patient with this process. Time is the biggest helper that you can have on your side when you institute a change in your life, especially a life altering change such as this.
It took me a few years to finally be able to exhibit this way of living on a daily basis, but so far, it is working out quite nicely...I have not yet perfected this process, but the changes in my life and attitude are plentiful and abundant from just altering the way I think.
The only thing is, you must not quit on yourself or give in to negativity. No matter how hard it seems, no matter what circumstances you are in, you must not quit.
Never backtrack and take steps backwards in this process because of pressures of your life and daily routine. This is a process in which your life as you know it, can and will, be transformed into more of an enjoyable, happy, and complete life. I can only tell you this if I have experienced it, and I have and will continue to grow and learn from it.
Best of luck and thank you for reading this.
--- Copyright © 2010 Rich Barnes
Something To Encourage You:
Improve Your Positive Thinking Skills
Moving Past the Power of "What If"What a powerful thought! Or is it? The question of what if....let's ponder this for just a minute.... it could be very powerful yet it is only powerful in the sense of negativity!
"What if" is not the right frame of mind if you are really living the laws of attraction. "What if" is a negative thought!
Why waste time and energy wondering "what if"...?
Things in our lives happen for a reason, even when at the time it seems like its the worse things in our lives, yet going back over everything time and again with what you think should have happened is not going to help you move forward in your life!
- Why be bogged down with this negative thinking?
- Why be bothered with things in your past that you think should have been different?
- Why be bothered with people, things and situations that are in the past that you have no control over? (It does not serve a purpose and only keeps yourself stuck in the past instead of moving into the future. It fills you up with doubt and it doesn't move YOU FORWARD it only keeps you TRAPPED in the past!)
- Think on the lessons that those memories actually taught you?
- What did you learn from the past, what is it that keeps you in this negative thought pattern?
- Can you apply the lesson that life gave you at that time to make your future better?
So stop thinking in the past with the phrase "What if...". It serves no purpose but to keep you trapped in the past and unable to move forward!
I challenge each and everyone of you to erase that thought from your mind today. If you feel like you cannot move forward from this type of thinking, grab your journal, write down all your feelings from that situation that you cannot move past and get it out of your head NOW!
Then tear that piece of paper up, or light it on fire (be sure you do this in a safe environment) flush it down the toilet what ever you choose to do with it just get it out of your head and out of your life TODAY!
As you are watching the paper burn or go down the toilet envision this thought being released, never coming back, envision the lessons you learned from this past thought that is keeping you in the past and not letting you move into the future.
Let it go! There is nothing more to learn; once it is gone it is gone! Now move on, see your future as bright and free of all past influences in your life. See yourself as a strong person, doing what you want, feeling free and safe! You are free and safe!
Below are a few affirmations that I use to help me when I feel that powerful yet negative thought "What if..." happening: From Louise L. Hay's Book "The Present Moment".
- "I see myself as beautiful, lovable and appreciated. I am proud to be me."
- "I am created to succeed, and I now give thanks for my success."
- "I give myself the green light to go ahead, and to joyously embrace the new."
- "I am in charge. I take my own power back."
- "I constantly find new ways of looking at my world. I see beauty everywhere."
- "I speak up for myself. I claim my power now."
--- Rebbekah White
Check out true life experiences, from Rebbekah White to you, on each and every episode of her award winning Heal Yourself Talk Radio show https://healyourselftalk.com/.
Three Quotes To Motivate You:
"We choose our state of mind, just as we choose our behaviors and our paths in life. So choose to do something great today for yourself and others - be positive!"--- Kimerly Adamson
"Your morning thoughts may determine your conduct for the day. Optimistic thoughts will make your day bright and productive, while pessimistic thinking will make it dull and wasteful. Face each day cheerfully, smilingly and courageously, and it will naturally follow that your work will be a real pleasure and progress will be a delightful accomplishment."
--- Author Unknown
"No empowerment is so effective as self-empowerment. In this world, the optimists have it, not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when wrong, they are positive, and that is the way of achievement."
--- David Landes
Until Next Time, Remember:
Positive Thought - A Strong Tool Of Success
Once upon a time there was bunch of tiny frogs that arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.The race began. Honestly, no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of tower. You heard statements such as, "They will NEVER make it to the top. Or: Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one, except for those, who in fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell, "Its too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up, but one continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up!
At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower, except for one tiny frog. After a big effort, he was the only one who reached the top! THEN all the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal. It turned out.... that the winner was deaf!!!!
Never listen to other people tendencies to be negative or pessimistic.... because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you - the ones you have in your heart!
--- Author Unknown ---Ravinder Singh --- India
Just do it! Do what you want!
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Marlene Blaszczyk,
Creator, Editor & Publisher
MotivateUs.com