It's Time for a Negativity Diet

Forget the Zone or Atkins…we may be in need of a negativity diet. Did you know that some experts say that 80% of our thoughts are negative? And guess what that does to our conversations? I would challenge you to try trimming back the negative “trans-fat” thoughts in your mind. A colleague challenged me to do this last week. She admitted that it is not easy; while we have great intentions, the negative thoughts can take over.

So I began thinking. What are some of my negative thoughts? Like French fries and Halloween chocolates, I sometimes find myself focusing on fat and sugar-filled thoughts like…the stock market, unemployment rates, a less than desirable 401K portfolio, and whatever else comes to mind…crime rates, the education system, the list is endless.

To begin, I make a conscious decision. I can only focus on what I can control. My actions, my behavior, my thoughts; I train myself to get on a “positivity diet” full of fruits and vegetables, filling my mind with thoughts like…the future is not cancelled…within today’s problems lie the greatest opportunities…innovative ideas.

In the end, you have two directions you can take…positive or negative. And unless you are planning on moving to a different country, or leaving the workforce in the very near future, I really can’t see why anyone would choose the latter.

Comments

[Marcus Cary]

Excellent and SO true!! I'm reminded of a similar thought process, in that our actions have two core bases, love or fear. If more of us took action with a love based thought process instead of fear, we greatly improve the outcome and "re" actions. Anger, for example, being a fear based thought. Most of the time, we hesitate to move on action, because of our fears and often second guess ourselves. Instead of choosing that initial, instinctive thought that first comes to our minds. Never easy of course, but channeling ourselves towards those positive/love based thoughts and actions, will always reap rewards versus negative/fear based thoughts and actions.

I always look forward to your weekly thoughts. Thanks!