By Karen Donaldson
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
Look around. Surrounding you is a mixed bag of great feats of heroism and success, and defeat and misery. Business moguls and superstars know the secrets to glorious success. However, success is not a destination. It is a path poked with wins and losses. At best, it can be the culmination of learned lessons. At worst, a beat-down mired in disgrace. The path to success lies in positive thinking.
Positive thinking is not something magical that just happens to you. It is not something inherent to certain people’s genetic makeup. A good friend cannot give you positive thinking to cheer you up. Ultimately, you have to make the decision for yourself.
Positive thinking is a choice.
It is a locked door. You cannot discover it hidden under the welcome mat at your feet, in the smile of a superstar or in the bottom of the newest fad of energy drink. The key is already there, shoved into its cradle, forced sideways into the locked position. Turn the key. Yes, it takes an effort and a shift in perceptions. For success to come, you must turn the key and abandon the casual chance flip of the coin.
Positive thinking is the one true great enabler. It allows one to learn from mistakes that the negative thinker is doomed to repeat in an endless black cycle.
Positive thinking removes the veil of doubts and preconceptions. It allows you to take chances by looking at all sides of the imperfect diamond, instead of throwing it over your shoulder for its one imperfect facet.
Negative thinking, on its face, is easier. It shackles the mind and shields it from all the possibilities of success you can achieve. This thief robs us of the successes that would have been just a hands-breadth out of reach.
Try this exercise. Think about a bad situation in the past that happened to you. Write a few paragraphs down describing the negative atmosphere. Go into detail about how it affected you spiritually, financially, physically and emotionally. Then, go back and write about the situation again. This time instead of focusing on all of the negative aspects, write about what the experience taught you. Write in detail about the opportunities that appeared to you because of what happened.
Perhaps you learned to avoid similar bad situations or problems. Perhaps you gained a skill you did not have before the incident happened. I believe you will find that you gained just as much, if not more, than you thought you lost.
In order to see this, you need to make positive thinking a part of your life. Apply this way of thinking until it becomes second nature. Only then will you be able to move forward with your plans to become successful in your personal and professional life.
Karen Donaldson, president of Karen Donaldson Inc. A.K.A “Your Next Level Coach”, is a self-leadership and success coach, communication coach and international keynote speaker. Karen shows clients and audiences how to re-shift and strengthen their mindset and take committed and intentional action leading to increased sales, business and leadership success. For information: [email protected], (416) 414-2082, www.karendonaldsoninc.com.
