The saying that our attitude determines our altitude is a great truth that applies to virtually every facet of life. We are what we are and where we are because of the thoughts that we allow to creep into our mind. The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, put it this way, “… as he [man] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). In short, we are a product of our thoughts.
People, who think they can never succeed in life or achieve a lofty goal, will most likely not get disappointed (except by some twist of faith). The fact that we may have failed a couple times to achieve a goal doesn’t mean that we are failures; it only means that our plan or approach wasn’t sound enough, and if we’d only persist while maintaining a positive mental attitude, we’ll soon be embracing our desired goal.
That said, I have garnered 5 solid tips on how to maintain a positive mental attitude. I had learnt these techniques from personal development materials I’ve digested and they’ve proved very valuable to me and to many others. Here they are:
1. Make use of positive affirmations and autosuggestion
Affirmations and autosuggestion are both age-old techniques that have been used to trick the subconscious mind, the mental driver, to action. The techniques entail writing down our desires/goals then repeatedly proclaiming them often enough till they get deeply ingrained into the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind, which comprises a huge portion of the brain, then works tirelessly to unite our behaviors with our emotionalized thoughts and desires.
The affirmations should be positive, personal and precise. Adding emotions to our affirmations revs up our self-confidence and influences the subconscious mind. In their book, “Success through a Positive Mental Attitude”, Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone recommend a daily dose of positive affirmation which goes like this – “I feel healthy! I feel happy! I feel terrific!”
2.Apply positive, creative visualization
The mind is a very powerful tool but is often underestimated. If we can conceive and believe anything in our mind, we can achieve it (that sounds like the tag line of this website). When working toward attaining success in any area, it always helps to visualize in our mind the achievement of that goal. This way negative thoughts will be blocked from polluting the soundness and creativity of the mind. If we can think it, we can do it!
3.Run away from people with a negative attitude
Like poles of a magnetic field dispel while unlike poles attract. However, when it comes to maintaining a positive attitude, this law doesn’t hold. We must flee from folks who possess a negative mental attitude; they are the same people who speak and think negatively about themselves and are always pessimistic. If we hang out with such people for too long, their negative attitude will unfortunately rub off on us.
The people we hang around most of the time have a significant influence on our life that soon enough, if care isn’t taken, we’d begin to utter the same words they use as well as think and act the same way they do. Therefore, we need to remain in the gathering of positively-minded folks.
4. Read and listen to inspirational/motivational materials
Ingesting regular dosage of inspiration and motivation contents is necessary to keep us mentally pumped up through out the day. Listening to inspirational messages and reading inspirational books are great ways to stay motivated. People wonder why big guns such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or John Maxwell are highly-motivated leaders. The saying – “Readers are leaders”- should stop the wondering minds. The more we know, the better the decisions we make and, hence, the more desirable will be the quality of our life and the more impact we can make in our world.
5. Change your attitude toward failure
This is quite a tough one yet it is very critical. Many a times we see failure as a reason to quit and give up on a pursuit, but it ought not to be so. Failure is neither fatal not final. It is, as Truman Capote put it, “… the condiment that gives success its flavor.” On the road to success, we are apt to meet couple of failures (I mean this in a positive way), but if we don’t give up, we will eventually achieve our desired goal. The failures we encounter will only spur us to achieve outstanding feats if and only if we learn from our mistakes and decide not to quit. Quitters never win and winners never quit even in the face of defeat and failure.
Resolve not to quit pursuing your goal. Also, have faith that you can do it.
Take action:
Which of the 5 tips can you begin applying now? Once you’ve identified that get on with it.
How do you keep your mental attitude positive?
To your positive mental attitude!