Everybody talks about it..
Everybody knows about it..
But how come, it remains difficult to ‘think positive’?
You’ve been to motivational talks..
You’ve seen plenty of motivational videos..
You’ve heard stories about it many times before..
But at the end of the day, you still have no idea, ‘how to think positive’..
Allow me to share with you how I train myself to be positive and think
positively.
Let’s take a look the picture..
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Messy? Unproductive? Bored? Bad environment?
If you came up with any of the words above, or something similar along
the line, that’s a good sign!
It means, you are human! 🙂
And as humans, it is our nature to be critical.. It is part of our
survival instinct to always be in doubt, be careful and be suspicious..
in other words, we tend to be negative first!
The first step in being positive and thinking positively is to accept
this fact.
How does this help you to be positive?
Well, once you accept that being negative first is a normal reaction for
us human beings, its time to take the next step!
Step 2 is.. Hold your reactions! Shut your mouth! Before you say
anything negative (because you know that it will come out first), hold
your horses and refrain from the impulse reaction.
Now.. Look at the picture again.. this time, answer the following
question..
WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT WHAT’S IN THE PICTURE?
This is actually step 3.
The 3rd step is changing the ‘question’ in your mind.
This is what professionals call ‘paradigm shift’.
It is a fancy term for changing the ‘question you ask yourself’..
Now, when you ask yourself “what is good about this?”
Did you actually see the good side of things?
Did you see the windows that give the workers more natural light? Well
at least they have windows, I only have a cubicle! 🙂
Did you manage to say that these guys must be experts at what they do?
Because they still have a job and they are the only ones doing it. 🙂
Did you see the neatly placed tools? That’s a sign of good housekeeping
habits! Some people still find it difficult to do ‘5S’ at work but these
guys seems to be doing it well! 🙂
Like that, keep practising these 3 steps, and soon, InsyaAllah, you will
become more positive in the future.
As a recap..
Step 1: Accept your negative thoughts
Step 2: Hold those thoughts – do not react to it
Step 3: Ask yourself, “What’s good about this?” – what can you learn
from it, what might be a good explanation for it, what’s the bright side
of it, etc.
All the best!