I remember when my Dad gave me Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking” when I was still in college. I read through the book and was immediately pumped up on the new way of living I had discovered. For a few days everything was great and I kept telling myself to look at the positive side of things in every situation. It was very difficult to see the light when you were down and when things were not going your way. But I kept telling myself to keep thinking positive. Slowly I realised that it was getting to me and I was getting even more frustrated with my situation. I concluded at the point that this whole “Positive thinking” philosophy was nothing but a piece of junk advice. It was not that I thought that book was not good, rather I felt it was something which most people would not be able to use in their day to day life.
15 years latter I read the same book and I developed a completely different understanding of what Positive Thinking meant. I decided to understand this better and more importantly try and find out how I can actually make this work for you. It’s a well know fact that ” As we Think, so we become”. Many books have been written on this subject and many scholars and gurus have provided insights into this. The fact of the matter is that 15 years ago I tried to work at my conscious level. I was operating at the surface. As human beings we have some deep rooted belief systems and when faced with an adversity these belief systems and instincts take over and we react as we have been programmed to over the years. This is why simply trying to “Think Positive” does not give us the results we desire.
To get the desired results, we need to go deeper into our subconscious and change our belief system. This is by no means easy but is definitely doable. Think of your subconscious like the operating system of your computer. Applications are designed to support a particular operating system. You cannot run a program designed for Mac OS to run on a windows computer. Similarly, you can’t put new thoughts into an old belief system. You will need to change your belief system to have new thoughts. Changing a belief system is similar to formatting parts of your subconscious and reprogramming it. One important thing to remember is that changing a belief system takes time and effort. Dont expect overnight results. Very often you will see yourself falling back to old habits. The key is to stay focussed and take constant action.
Here are some simple tips to help you program your mind and change your belief system
1. Listen/Watch or read something positive and motivational within the first 20 minutes of you getting up. Avoid reading the newspaper which have nothing but negativity all over them.
2. Try a meditate for at least 15 minutes in the morning.
3. Exercise for 30 minutes every day.
4. Stay away from negative people. Make sure your relationships are nourishing you and not draining you. Stay far away from the whiners of the world.
5. Practice affirmations each day. Affirmations are simple statements which you tell yourself regarding your goals or aspirations. For example if you want to have more money in your life, keep telling yourself that you already possess the money. This may sound stupid and ridiculous in the beginning but stick to it and you will be amazed at what it does to your thoughts. If you are trying to change your belief system, repeat the affirmation about the new belief system every day.
6. Stop watching TV. At Least stop watching anything which is disturbing to your mind (violence, crime, etc). Make sure you watch/hear or read something positive 15 minutes before you go to bed.
Do the above till they become a habit and slowly but surely you will start seeing a change in yourself. You will notice how your thoughts start to change and how your response to the same situations start to change. In summary you cant simply Think Positive, you have to condition and program your mind with positive vibrations, sounds and words, so that it starts sending out positive thoughts even when you are faced with adversity.