Hello,
Personally, I’m very optimistic by nature and tend to see the positive first. I know the world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but I choose to believe in the best of today and the best that’s yet to come. While doing some research on the consequences of negativity, I made a brilliant discovery a few weeks ago: the league of optimists in France. A league whose aim is to share optimism. Among their articles, I was able to read a text that perfectly sums up the effects of negativity, here it is: “Being pessimistic – always expecting the worst – can have significant negative consequences on your life. Seeing only the negative aspects of a situation can cause you to miss opportunities, overlook problems that need solving, and fail to take action that could have improved your relationships and quality of life. If you’ve always had a pessimistic view of the world, it can be difficult to completely change your mindset, but it is possible to start seeing the glass as half full. Optimists always see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Negativity is a poison that locks you in a prison and prevents you from moving forward by killing you slowly. However, even if it’s easier for some than others to get out of it, I believe it’s accessible to everyone, much more, necessary. If you want to live your life and your dreams to the full, you need to grasp the key that will open the door to your prison: positivity! Cultivating positivity involves several actions and several areas. It’s a change in several habits and a discipline to be applied on a daily basis, in several areas. I’d even go so far as to say it’s a lifestyle! Let’s look at the most important areas together: Words: your tongue is the rudder of your life. No matter what people may say, you are the person whose words have the most influence on you. By starting to proclaim good things about yourself, your abilities and the possibilities open to you, you’ll develop an attitude and a state of mind that may surprise even yourself, but is sure to make a difference to your life and the lives of others in all areas! Food for the senses (films, music, etc.): on average, a human being receives 60,000 thoughts a day. Impressive, isn’t it? What’s even more astonishing is that 95% of these thoughts come from the previous day, 5% are future-oriented and 80% are negative. Based on these statistics, you have 3,000 opportunities a day to make a positive impact on the world. A fulfilled life is possible! So is changing the world! As you can see, clearing your mind is necessary to get rid of the 80% of negative thoughts, but stopping there won’t get you out of despondency and motivate you. So fill up on positive things, encouraging words, motivating facts, inspiring testimonials, etc. This will get you into the virtuous circle of optimism and positive thinking.
Learn to love what you’ve got and make the most of it: as the extract above says, seeing the glass as half full is possible. In any case, you have the choice between seeing the glass half-full or seeing the glass half-empty, which won’t change the amount of water in the glass. In one case, you won’t be happy, you’ll see difficulties and evolve among them; in the other, you’ll rejoice, you’ll be inclined to see solutions in all situations and you’ll stay motivated. So, what do you think? Be part of the solution! You have everything to gain. Believing the best: we all have a tendency to see what bothers us and doesn’t fit into our conceptions, our frameworks. We are all designed with our own thought systems and cognitive “dictionaries” through which we analyze and understand situations. This dictionary is unique to us and remains imperfect, failing to take all elements into account. To remain positive and optimistic, we need to focus on the positive. We all have qualities and faults, but only by concentrating on the qualities of each individual can we cultivate positive thinking. Believing the best implies applying John Maxwell’s 101% law: when disagreeing with someone, “look for the 1% you agree with and give them 100% of your attention. Gratitude: being grateful for what we have encourages us to see the positive in everything we experience. One of the worst enemies of growth and positive thinking is a lack of recognition. Taking things for granted or defining them as normal leads us to contempt, ingratitude and dissatisfaction. No matter how important or useful, what others do for you and what you have is not ordinary. Just because you consider it normal doesn’t mean it is. When someone gives you a hello, a smile, a gesture, a gift, an attention, etc., it’s not because they have to. Being grateful for this will lead you to cultivate this positive attitude and encourage others to continue, enabling you to have more and more positive experiences. Gratitude is the choice you make every day to seize and give the joy and happiness presented to you more importance than the circumstances around you. A positive, grateful attitude will lead you to perceive, see and believe more simply in the opportunities and possibilities before you. By adopting this mindset, you’ll move from glory to glory in your destiny, living and celebrating every victory in your race. Start making your “Golden List” today, the list of 10 things you’re grateful for, and renew it every morning. You’ll soon see that it will become easier and easier to do, and that it will lead you to a better life every day. In our next Newsletter, we’ll finish our series on dream breakers by tackling a major element: criticism. To make sure you don’t miss out, be sure to sign up by clicking on “I subscribe!” at the end of this article.
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You’re wonderful!
Joachim Fontaine
Coach | Consultant | Trainer
