Successful people know that there's no joy to be found in having a miserable outlook. I’m sure you n relate to the type of person I'm referring to. The friend you have who seems to find pleasure by informing you of every catastrophe that’s been listed in the news. The egocentric neighbour who simply won’t offer a listening ear to your thoughts. The over-cautious friend who always highlights the dangers in any endeavour you partake and of your inevitable death
Such negativity has the powerful ability to stop progress in its tracks, and can cloud the mind with bitterness and resentment. What’s needed in a replacement for negativity, which is of course it’s noble opponent, positivity.
How can you unlock your true potential with a preference for positive thinking? It’s all about identifying, limiting, or if necessary, removing negative sources. Society today is geared towards negative thinking. Negativity breeds fear, and fear is what quite often stops us from doing things that fall “outside the box”.
If the desired result is to limit your exposure to negativity, then the first step is recognising where it comes from. The following key areas of your life are a good place to start.
Relationships
As Jim Rohn insightfully states, “you are the average of the 5 people you spend your time with”. You have the ability to select those people you feel are contributing positively to your growth. It’s time for you to use it. If someone doesn’t fill you with positivity, consider their offerings and decline graciously. Move on and spend time around those people who are a positive inspiration to you.
Information
It’s not only people that affect the mood of your mind, it’s the images, sounds, and depictions of people too. Timothy Ferriss talks about the concept of a ‘low information diet’ in his book, the Four Hour Workweek, where you go without viewing/reading/listening to any form of informative or educational material for a week, and see if your life is really worse off. After performing this selective information intake continuously for about 2 years now ( i don’t watch or read world news, and if I want to know then I ask someone instead), I can guarantee your life won’t stop. With less unnecessary information, there’s space for meaningful information. Practice ‘putting a LID on it’ and remove the bad so you can substitute with the good - information that provides you with inspirational happiness that can nourish your mind.
Environment
Ever placed yourself in an environment that made you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or trapped? Not an ideal space to harbour happiness, and an ideal place for negativity to flourish. In some cases, your work, hobbies, or even where you live, can all lead to an environment that’s toxic to your mindset. Select an environment that aligns with your goals, values, morals etc. that you can spend the majority of your time in.
Positive thinking, and believing you are capable of greatness, is essential for success. It’s not an easy task, especially when media and culture feeds off fear that negativity creates, but to master positive thinking and to use it for your success may require you to cut back, limit, or altogether erase negative sources from your life. Give yourself the best opportunity to unlock your potential. Practice diligence and create space in your life for positivity by limiting the amount of negativity, and watch your success grow in leaps and bounds as a result.
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