Positive Mindset, Does It Really Matter?
Positive Mindset does it really matter? Everyone knows a positive mindset is a key component to success. Yet so many still spend too much time playing out the negative “what if” in their mind. Where does the need to figure out every single negative thing possible come from? What causes the need to focus on all the negative results and not focus on ways to adjust for the positive?
Whatever your upbringing, society as a whole has a “worse case scenario” mindset. It takes a strong will and mind to stay out of the negative that is out there today. Almost everywhere you look the negative is being discussed or printed. Rehashed to every ear who will listen.
The positive mind wants to search for possibilities. To focus on the possibilities. To always hold the mindset that there is a way. You just haven’t figured it out yet. Keeping the mindset that you have the ability will train your mind to be “looking” for the answers you need.
Be it knowledge or being in the right place at the right time to figure out what is next. Finding new ways to look at things will help you get creative in your solutions. With every solution you find you build confidence.
Positivity Nurtures Confidence
Now I am not saying things never go wrong. They do but knowing that it is an opportunity to learn something and develop yourself and your confidence is a win overall. You can use things going wrong or “maybe” going wrong, to stop you. Fear will keep you stuck. You have to face your fear and try regardless.
Two years ago when I took off for California after stepping off stage, I had no idea what I was going to do. I had never been to California as an adult. We used to stop there when we came back from Hawaii on occasion. I was very young and did not remember much of it really.
I accepted a 30-day house sit for a couple going to Europe and took off a week early to see some of the coasts I had heard about first. It was an open contract due to be signed when we met and I agreed to their location. I had no idea what was to come after the house-sitting position. That would give me 30 days to see what would be next If I accepted it.
I did not question my ability to make it to California. Even though I did not have all the answers. Heck, I actually had very few when I boarded that plane. I had a dream and a ton of hope and faith in myself. So with post-competition excitement, I boarded a plane, and well thanks to COVID-19 I spent 2 years in beautiful Laguna Beach California thriving and living my dream.
Mindset Matters
Had I taken the time to list the negative what “ifs” or listen to all the well-meaning souls telling me not to go. The list probably would have gone on and on. Just like the list of reasons the well-meaning people could come up with.
I chose to not focus there and having all the negative feedback actually made me focus harder on all that could go right. My “what ifs” were all happy and exciting. They had positive outlooks and happily ever after.
My point is the choice is always yours. You get to be positive and chase your dream if you want to. The key to it is to focus on the positive. You can list out positive outcomes. “If this,” “then that,” all on a positive trail of success. Of “If not this,” “then that”. All positive solutions.
Would it not be priceless to have the ability to find the positive as fast and easy as you could the negative? Even better to have the ability to believe in the positive. Not just lip service but actual faith in the outcome being a positive one. Even if it is different than the list you made.
Perspective Matters
This is where your perspective will make or break you. A positive attitude will help you find solutions. It will train you to see the possibilities all around you. When something does not work out it just turns you to the solution. It doesn’t necessarily change your goal or dream but allows you to see other avenues faster.
As you develop the skill to look for the positive and find solutions your thought process changes and your confidence level goes up. You find your ability to believe in yourself grows with every positive step forward.
Yes, the negative thoughts will come in. How you choose to handle them is up to you. You can keep going down that path or you can acknowledge the thought and give it a positive solution and change your thought process direction.
It can be a challenge. Most of the world is trained to tell you all about the negative part of their day. They came home and immediately say “oh my gosh guess what”, or “you are not going to believe what happened to me today”.The launch into a list of everything that went wrong all day.
Keeping the negative energy active over and over trains your brain to look for the negative because you get a “rush” retelling the story over and over. You are training your mindset to be negative. To look for and feed on the negative.
What if you trained your brain to get that “rush” on the good things? Even as simple as a smile returned from a stranger. Learning how to see all the little blessings and focusing on those will rewire your brain to look for the “rush” with a positive stimulus.
Changing Your Outlook
Not everyone has a positive outlook. Some people don’t even want to hear about the good. I get called “Polly Anna” regularly. I love the compliment because to me it lets me know that I am still on track with my mindset. Somewhere I learned to just say a prayer for them and move on. It relieves me and prayers of any kind are always positive.
You don’t have to change others to have a positive mindset, only yourself. It is a personal choice to want to be an uplifting spirit. Look for others who see the positive or want to try. Work together to find the positive.
Start a group chat holding each other accountable with positive reinforcement. 30 days of a positive mindset and you will see a shift in your life. You will realize you have a lot more good going on in your life than you realized.
The saying is “What you focus on grows”. In actuality, it is your attention to something that makes it grow. Anger, frustration, calm, and happiness, can all grow or shrink exponentially with your attention to them. How are you going to focus?
A positive mindset will not make your life perfect but it will set you on a path to rewire what you focus on and move you toward being a Solution Seeker. The choice is yours. My question to you is what do you have to lose? Give it a try, I dare ya.
Have a blessed day, y’all.
Peggie Sue | The Midlife Dream Life Coach
