This is the third in a series that discusses the dangers of negative thinking, how to avoid negative thinking, and how to switch from negative to positive thinking.

by Chuck Gallozi

1. Get a good Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) workbook and use it to turn your life around. Three good books are: Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Workbook For Dummies. Just one of the three above books, or any other good CBT workbook, will do. Keep in mind the object isn’t to learn about CBT, but to practice it by doing the exercises.
2. Act as if you already have a positive attitude. This is a very powerful method, for even if you’re just pretending, the people you interact with don’t know that, so they respond in a very positive way. And their favourable response makes you feel good, which then leads to your positive thoughts and behaviour. Have fun with this effective technique. Pretend you are a famous movie star or a notable theatrical performer and give your best performance. Each time you use this technique, you are using others to mold your personality. It’s a life-changing and magical technique first expounded by William James.
3. Most of the time we act on autopilot. That is, we act without thinking, or unconsciously. To develop your power of choice, you need to get into the habit of making conscious choices and immediately following through. Why is it important to strengthen our power of choice? Because the power of choice is the power to change. And once we have the power to change, we can change our attitude or any other bad habit.
4. Motivate yourself to change and reinforce your positive behavior by monitoring your progress. Keep a gratitude journal and a victory journal. Record your successes and what you are thankful for.
5. Beware of what you say to yourself and others, and be careful of what you daydream about because every time you speak or daydream you are programming your subconscious for success or failure, for a positive or negative attitude. Make sure whatever you say or daydream about is positive.
6. Take vitamins for the mind; fortify your mind with inspirational and motivational books, videos, and CDs or audio files.
7. Focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t. Remember, “I can” is more important than I.Q.
8. Would you say that the Internet does more harm or good? I’m surprised by how many people believe it does more harm than good. Perhaps this is a good example of finding what we look for. By that I mean when we look for something to complain about, that’s what we’ll find. Returning to the Internet, instead of looking for the harm or good, suppose I look for the facts. What do the experts say?
   According to the online Social Capital Review, “The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University recently interviewed 895 technology experts, stakeholders and critics as part of a series of surveys about the evolution and social impact of online technologies. Eighty-five percent of them thought that the Internet has been mostly a positive influence in their social worlds and that those benefits would only continue to increase.”
   The point I’m trying to make here is if we look for the good, we’ll find it. So, look for it.
9. Regardless how horrible our fate may be, we have the power to change our attitude. If Victor E. Frankl could change his in a Nazi concentration camp, we can change ours. In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he writes: “We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: The last of his freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
10. Here’s another helpful book, Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS by Jeffrey Gitomer.
11. Use motivational quotations as guideposts to a positive attitude. Here are some examples:

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.” —Victoria Holt

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” —W. Clement Stone

“One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault.” (Author Unknown)

References

BOOKS

The Life-Changing Power of Sophrology by Dominique Antiglio

Your Erroneous Zones: Step-by-Step Advice for Escaping the Trap of Negative Thinking and Taking Control of Your Life by Wayne W Dyer

A Year of Positive Thinking: Daily Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage by Cyndie Spiegel

Positive Thinking: 30 Days Of Motivation And Affirmations: Change Your “Mindset” & Fill Your Live With Happiness, Success & Optimism!by Robert Norman

Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthrough Program to End Negative Behavior…and Feel Great Again by Jeffrey E. Young and Janet S. Klosko

Beyond Positive Thinking: A No-Nonsense Formula for Getting the Results You Want By Robert Anthony

Reprinted by permission.https://personal-development.com/