What is positive thinking?
Before putting the powers of positive thinking to work in your personal and professional life, you must first understand exactly what positive thinking is. By definition, the word positive means dealing with matters of fact; expressed clearly, or in a confident or peremptory manner. However, in the concept of positive thinking, the word positive is meant to signify a manner of thinking: a manner that puts emphasis on processing thoughts in a more desirable, upbeat way. Positive thinking can be described as the practice of embracing the affirmative in our thoughts, our feelings, our actions, our reactions and our speech.
Positive thinking can also be described as a type of attitude. Happy, optimistic people are usually described as having positive attitudes and expressing positive thoughts. People who consistently "look on the bright side" are utilizing positive thinking.
Most importantly, positive thinking can be described as a skill that can be acquired by anyone. By learning the process of positive thinking, you can more easily reach your goals, whether they are personal goals or professional ones.
So, now you know how to describe positive thinking, but what is it? Positive thinking is the act of reviewing thought processes and personal actions for areas that need improvement and for areas with negative implications, and then using the appropriate tools to change those thoughts or actions in a positive, goal-oriented way.
How does positive thinking work?
Positive thinking begins with a conscious desire to pay attention to and recognize the affirmative in any given situation. Once the affirmative, or positive trait, of a situation or thought can be recognized, then the process of positive thinking can be utilized. In essence, the ability to pinpoint and utilize the positive in your thoughts and actions enables you to better reach your goals, realize your dreams and make a positive impact on all of your endeavors.
The actual process of positive thinking works to bring about desired outcomes in both our personal life and our professional life in a variety of ways. By acting in a positive way we naturally draw positive people to ourselves. By believing in positive outcomes we more readily accept them as fact and open ourselves to their reality. By thinking positive thoughts we are better able to see alternate, more advantageous routes to take. By truly accepting a positive way of thinking we are better able to see the path to success and better able to use our knowhow to get there.
The basic mechanics of positive thinking are simple. This simple process involves consciously searching for the affirmative in any situation, recognizing the benefits of each positive trait and then employing a can-do attitude to follow through on these positive thoughts.
In order to better understand how positive thinking can work, look at the following examples.
Example #1: Maria is a medical assistant who has put in over seven years of service at her place of employment. Last month, Maria applied for a supervisory position within her company; however, she did not receive the promotion.
In order to incorporate positive thinking into this situation Maria did three things.
First, she searched for the affirmative. Maria discussed the outcome with her supervisors and found that she didn't posses a particular computer skill that they thought crucial to the position. Maria decided to look at this as a positive reason to secure new training instead of as a reason to become down on herself and her abilities to grow within the company.
Next, Maria sat down and made a list of all the positive outcomes that could be associated with pursuing computer training. Her list included possible jobs outside of her company that she could qualify for, possible jobs inside her company that she could apply for, ways that her news computer skills could enhance her current position and ways that new computer skills could benefit her personal life.
Then, Maria used the excitement and momentum created by the possibilities on her list to quickly enroll in a computer class and learn all she could from it. Six months later, Maria applied for and received a promotion within her company.
Example #2: Bill has been carving wood as a hobby for over twelve years.
Recently, Bill decided to write a short, informational guide to woodcarving and sell it on the internet as a source of extra income. Bill used his savings to have the guide professionally written, to have a web site designed and to buy some banner advertising for his new site. Although Bill had a fair number of visitors to his site his guide was not selling. After one month Bill decided his idea was hopeless and was ready to give up. His wife, however, believed wholeheartedly in the guide and wasn't ready to see Bill quit. After convincing Bill to try it her way, they sat down and made a list.
First, Bill and his wife made a list of all the good points of the guide. After looking at the results of Bill's initial research they both decided that the guide was a good source of basic information for people who were new to woodcarving. Realizing this, Bill decided to focus his selling techniques on beginning woodcarvers.
Next, Bill and his wife looked for markets that catered to woodcarving beginners. Instead of deciding that the web site wasn't working and calling it quits, Bill decided to look for fresh and innovative ways to market his guide. During this search Bill happened upon a web site that specialized in woodcarving tool kits for beginners. Upon seeing the site, Bill's positive thinking wife knew two things. One, that there was a market for Bill's guide and two, that with a little creativity, the tool site's customers could become their customers.
Excited by the possibilities, Bill's wife contacted the owners of the tool site and struck an agreement. In exchange for providing a link to the woodcarving tool web site, that site provided a link for buying Bill's guide. Within a few weeks, Bill's sales increased dramatically. Buoyed by confidence, Bill began contacting other markets and increasing his affiliations and referrals.
As you can see from the two examples, positive thinking can work when you remember to follow the basics. In both cases the individuals decided to search for something positive in an otherwise negative situation. Maria decided to search for a positive reason when she didn't receive the promotion instead of just assuming she wasn't good enough or lucky enough to get it. Bill's wife decided to search for a positive trait in the guide instead of dismissing it as unwanted in the woodcarving field.
Then, both individuals worked to realize the benefits of the positive traits in their situations. Maria decided that although a computer-training course could not help her get the promotion that she had missed, it could benefit her life in numerous other ways. Bill and his wife decided to market the guide to a different group of people in order to increase sales.
Finally, both Maria and Bill used the power of positive thinking to follow through on their goals. By focusing on the positive benefits of their endeavors, both individuals were able to harness the confidence necessary to continue working towards their desired outcomes.
The benefits of positive thinking
By learning positive thinking techniques and putting them into practice throughout every aspect of your life you can achieve many internal and external benefits.
The internal benefits that come from adopting a manner of positive thinking are a positive attitude, belief in alternative possibilities, creative thinking, better problem solving skills, confidence, focus, determination, satisfaction and feelings of achievement.
Positive thinking leads to a positive attitude simply because thinking about the positive traits and aspects of your life causes your brain to operate in a "feel good" state. By constantly thinking positive thoughts, your brain is trained to look on the bright side of every situation, which in turn causes you to feel satisfied with your current position in life.
Positive thinking also leads to a positive attitude because it keeps your mind busy. If your mind is busy concentrating on positive thoughts, it is extremely difficult for it to dwell on negative thoughts at the same time.
Positive thinking also leads to a belief in alternative possibilities by its very nature. When faced with what seems at first glance to be a no-win situation, positive thinkers have the natural ability to look outside of the facts for off beat or less conventional solutions. This ability to look past the obvious facts opens more doors and possible outcomes for both personal situations and professional ones.
For example, a person who utilizes positive thinking skills has a better chance of overcoming a stressful situation like being fired from their job, than a person who possesses little or no positive thinking skills. A positive thinker will use their skills to broaden their new job search and ultimately find better employment in less time.
Since positive thinking makes the ability to believe in alternative possibilities a reality, it also leads to more creative thinking when faced everyday setbacks. By believing that the solution may not be obvious, positive thinkers are more prone to draw their ideas from unusual sources.
Positive thinkers also express more creative thinking throughout everyday life. Self-proclaimed positive thinkers are responsible for a large amount of the inventions, discoveries and innovations that we enjoy today.
Since positive thinking promotes more creative thinking, it also promotes better problem solving skills. When positive thinkers are faced with a particularly stubborn situation they not only use their skills to envision an increased number of solutions, but they also use their belief in the affirmative to continue on until they have found a resolution.
As we learned from the previous examples, people who are faced with problems or failure are usually too quick to give up. However, by using positive thinking problem solving skills both Maria and Bill were able to tackle their problems head-on and seek out desirable outcomes.
Through the previous benefits, positive thinkers are awarded a boost of confidence. By utilizing the skills of positive thinking, you will begin to experience an increased belief in yourself and your abilities. After experiencing success after success with positive thinking, your brain will become trained to see each situation as a simple challenge instead of as a barrier that blocks your success.
As you develop your positive thinking skills, this new belief in yourself will lead to greater focus and determination. By simply believing that you will find a suitable solution you will gain the motivation necessary to stay on task until that desirable outcome is achieved. Plus, a can-do attitude will help center your concentration enabling you to stay focused on the positive aspects of the situation until the problem is resolved.