How to Stay Positive in a Negative World
You’re used to the news by now in the last few years: “Inflation is up.” “People are working harder than ever with less to show for it.” “Our politicians can’t agree on anything.” By regularly listening to the news you may start to question whether the sky is actually falling. (Don’t worry — it isn’t.)
High achievers know it’s critical to maintain a positive mental outlook no matter what’s going on around them. So how do you develop and maintain this attitude? Here are some ideas I use personally to stay positive in a negative world, which I also share with my Financial Advisor clients:
1. Mission Statement The starting point of all high achievement is a clear sense of purpose. So your Mission Statement is like “your personal pledge of allegiance.
2. Affirmations To become a “legend in your own time,” you must first be a legend in your own mind. One way to do this is to use Affirmations: repetition of positive statements in the present tense as if they are already a fact.
3. Goals Having specific written goals with a deadline is the first step to knowing where you want to arrive, by when.
4. Visualization One of the important skills taught to professional athletes is mentally picturing specific successful outcomes (i.e. the perfect golf swing) in a meditative state. You can use the same skill for business success.
5. Positive Mental Input Take on the challenge of a “media fast” for a week — shut off the TV, ignore the newspaper, avoid commercial radio, etc. Most media in designed to “addict” you to their programming without benefit to you. I suggest you replace this negative input with reading success books, listening to motivational audio programs and attending skill-building seminars. This will have a positive effect on your attitude AND your bottom line.
6. Physical Exercise High achievers understand the importance of staying in shape. A regular workout regimen has a multitude of benefits — it reduces stress, clears the mind, builds endurance and provides that “look of a winner” for attracting and keeping business. It makes no difference what form of exercise you choose, just as long as you enjoy it enough to do it 4 – 5 times a week.
7. Positive Support Group Unlike magnets, likes attract. So if you want to be a high achiever, start hanging out with them. One assignment I give my Financial Advisor clients is to identify top producing FA’s, then invite them to lunch to find out what they’re doing.
One final word: If becoming a high achiever was EASY, everyone would do it — and then it would be worth the equivalent of flippin’ burgers at your local fast food joint. The people who use the ideas I’ve described here KNOW how to stay positive in a negative world … and they’re the ones you’ll see at the top.
QUESTION: What do you do to stay positive every day?