How to Make Positive Thinking Work

Positive Thinking, by itself, isn’t much, and it’s certainly not sufficient. Positive thinking without constructive visualization and consistent action/adaptation is like pizza without sauce, and cheese, and toppings, and an oven, and someone skilled to make the pizza and bake, and slice, it — it’s just dough.

Positive thinking when combined with vivid and emotionally charged visualization of desired results and accompanying challenges, and consistent action, reflection and adaptation is a very potent combination. But yes, just sitting on the couch thinking positive thoughts will not amount to much of anything.

So, what it comes down to is, given the choice between combining positive thinking and visualization, consistent action/learning/adaptation or negative thinking with the aforementioned, which makes sense? Put another way, would you want pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni (or your fav topping) with mold-ridden, off-smelling pizza dough? Of course not, it takes high quality, fresh ingredients — from the dough to the toppings — to make a great pizza.

Let’s apply this:

  • are you noticing and managing your thoughts effectively, consistently returning to positive, resourceful thoughts?
  • are you taking the time visualize new or challenging tasks, imagining how you’ll overcome challenges and marshal strengths and resources?
  • are you taking consistent action, all the while taking time to reflect on what has worked, and what hasn’t — and making the changes necessary?

Those are the Big Three of Life. If you’re not doing them, you’re missing out on what life has to offer you. Change that. Do the Big Three more, start small if necessary, but start Now.

Similar Posts

  • Do You Really Want To?

    Time is a created thing. To say, ‘I don’t have time’ is to say, ‘I don’t want to.’ – Lao Tzu What do you spend your time doing? The key is that time is a limited resource and what you do with it matters. When you say you can’t do something it’s because you’ve decided (consciously or…

  • Just Do Something

    The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. – Oscar Wilde Sometimes people don’t do something (for someone) because it’s hard, or they don’t know how it will be received, or . . . . The problem is that we only grow and benefit from the things we actually do. When…

  • Do You Get On?

    The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. – George Bernard Shaw I’m sure I’ve blogged on this quote before, but it’s worth repeating. Ask yourself about your “circumstances:” Are they what you want?…

  • Monday Practice: Learning from Ric Elias

    This Monday’s Weekly Practice comes last week’s post talking about Ric Elias’ (amazing/life-changing/inspiring/wake-up-from-your-slumber) TED talk. If you’ve haven’t watched the video and read the post, please click here and re-join me below. *** This week I want to to explore the three questions Ric raises. Each day, take some time to write out the answers…

  • Shine From Within

    People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Of course it’s easy to be happy and positive when things are good, but what about when things are…