About the time I started college I was introduced to books and magazines about Positive Mental attitude. I don’t remember how it started or who gave me my first book but I’m glad they did. Those would have been the books by Napolean Hill, W. Clement Stone, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. I also became familiar with “Success Magazine” that monthly printed articles by these authors and others focused on positive mental attitude.
At that time there were many people that cringed when they heard the term, positive mental attitude. To them they were going to be meeting another person that was just too bubbly and excited about life but wasn’t practical about anything. Well, I don’t fit that mold at all, but I found some of the ideas they talked about were very helpful in staying optimistic about life and trying new ideas that others said couldn’t happen.
There was one writer I hadn’t heard about, but now I know had as much to do with the motivation industry as anybody else. His name was Earl Nightingale and I recently heard a recording he made in the 1950’s that inspired millions of people and helped them find success. Maybe he was inspired by some of the authors I have already mentioned or maybe he inspired them. Whatever the case they have all helped others to find success in careers and lives that otherwise might have been very ordinary.
The Strangest Secret is a recording Earl Nightingale made for his sales team. So many were affected by the recording that it later sold millions of copies and became a gold record. You see, this was at a time when he had to go to the trouble of recording a record. He couldn’t make a tape or a CD, he actually had records pressed and handed them to his sales team. He wanted to share with them his secret for success.
We’ve all heard what the Strangest Secret is, but most of us could use a refresher. We have heard it from the Bible or from James Allen in “As a Man Thinketh” and most recently in the book, “The Secret”. The Strangest Secret is that we become what we think about. It is that simple. Nightingale said, “This is the Strangest Secret! Now, why do I say it’s strange, and why do I call it a secret? Actually, it isn’t a secret at all. It was first promulgated by some of the earliest wise men, and it appears again and again throughout the Bible, but very few people have learned it or understand it. That’s why it’s strange, and why for some equally strange reason it virtually remains a secret”.
It is really true. Whenever we have a positive outlook in our lives we are more successful. We are more successful because we believe we can achieve things and because we have this positive outlook people want to be around us and help us. Whenever we are down we don’t stand a chance. Those are the times when people will run from us because they don’t want to be brought down either. Think about the type of people that like to be around you in that circumstance. They are the ones that love a good pity party and they see you ready to start one.
I love the quote by Yogi Berra: Life is like baseball: it’s 90% mental, and the other half is physical. I don’t know if Yogi was 90% right or just half right but he had the right idea and maybe even more correct than he ever thought. How we succeed in our lives really does depend on how we react mentally. It is in our minds, we become what we think about. Author Jeffrey Gitomer puts it this way, “Half of your success is determined by your positive attitude…people can succeed 50% more if they just change the way they think”.
I don’t want to be misunderstood. I don’t believe a person can have a positive attitude and succeed all of the time. Obviously there are other ingredients involved. The positive attitude might put you in the situation to succeed, but you still need the right idea that can lead to success. You need a plan and then you need to follow the plan. As John Maxwell says, “If you think you can do something, that’s confidence. If you can do it, that’s competence”. Both are needed for success. So many people want to skip the hard work stage and not develop the competence needed for real success.
In my life I’ve had many situations where I didn’t succeed because I didn’t have the right plan in place. I had a great attitude but not the competence needed to succeed. On the other hand there have been times when the idea and plan was right, but it just took longer for success to come than I had planned. In those situation if I hadn’t had a positive attitude I would have quit too soon and the people around me would have as well.
I also don’t want anybody to think that I am the type of person that always has a great attitude. There are days when I don’t think anything will go right. I’m the one infecting the rest of the company. I’ve learned that those are the days I should not be around. It would have been better for everybody else if I would have taken my problem and quarantined it and not infected others, especially since I am seen as the leader of the company. It doesn’t hurt one bit for us to shut the door or leave for a while until we can work through whatever crisis is bothering our attitude.
Above all else, if you find yourself in a situation where daily you are around people that are negative you might find it best for your life and career to get out. Find a better place to work. If that isn’t possible then do all you can to make the change yourself and see if you can’t help others to be more positive. Don’t allow yourself to complain about the situation when the others just want to feel sorry for themselves. Say something positive to them. It will either help them to be more positive or they won’t ask your opinion the next time.
We all have different circumstances we live and work in. No two days are the same. Here are a few ideas to help us stay positive in, what can sometimes seem like, a negative world.
Read something funny
Take time to think, meditate
Take a walk or exercise
Find ways to serve and help others
Read or listen to something motivational
Try responding to people in kind ways
Find things to be grateful for
Remember that you have a choice to be positive or negative
As we begin this new year make a resolution to become a positive person. It may not happen overnight, but over time you can make changes. Find little things from the list and insert them into your life. If this becomes the one resolution you keep this year you can improve your life by 50% and be appreciated for doing it. It is your choice. I hope you make the right one.
We tend to get what we expect.
Norman Vincent Peale
You can do anything in your life if you have enthusiasm.
Henry Ford
Life is a self fulfilling prophecy.
Anonymous
If you don’t think it’s a good day, just try missing one.
Zig Ziglar