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Maintaining a Positive Attitude
By:
Brian Tracy
When I was 21 years old, a friend of mine and I decided to go
off to see the world. Many of our friends were going to Europe
and hitchhiking around with rucksacks. We decided to be
different and go to Africa instead. It never occurred to us to
ask why no one else was going to Africa. We found that out
later, much to our great regret. To get to our destination in
Africa, we had to cross the Sahara Desert. Starting from London,
we rode bicycles across France and Spain. The labor was
excruciating, the progress was slow, and the pleasure was
nonexistent.
In Gibraltar, we sold our bicycles and invested our last few
dollars in an old Land Rover. We crossed from Gibraltar to
Tangier and made our way through Morocco, over the Atlas
Mountains, and into Algeria. We were on our way in Africa.
Still, there was one obstacle between us and the greenery we
were anxious to see, and it was that darn, old desert.
Our Land Rover broke down many times, but we finally got it
repaired and set off to cross the Sahara. We had no idea how
serious and how difficult this adventure was to be. As we moved
south across the desert, we encountered endless problems, any
one of which could have finished our trip and, probably, our
lives. It was during this desert crossing that I learned one of
the most important lessons in my life about attitude.
The French, who had controlled Algeria for many years, had
marked a path across the desert with black, 55-gallon oil drums.
The drums were spaced exactly five kilometers apart. As we drove
and came to an oil drum, the next drum, which was five
kilometers ahead, would pop up on the horizon, and the last oil
drum, which was five kilometers behind, would fall off the
horizon, as if shot in a shooting gallery. Wherever we were, we
could always see two oil drums at a time - the one we had just
left and the one we were headed toward. To cross one of the
greatest deserts in the world, all we had to do was to take it
“one oil barrel at a time.” We did not have to cross the entire
desert at once. We had to cross it only one oil barrel at a
time, and that would be sufficient.
For me, the Sahara crossing was a metaphor for life. In order to
maintain a Positive Mental Attitude under all circumstances, all
you really have to do is to take it one step, one oil barrel, at
a time. As Thomas Carlyle said, “Our great business is not to
see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly
at hand.”
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to success and
achievement. You can build and maintain a Positive Mental
Attitude by focusing on doing what lies clearly at hand, by
taking the step that appears immediately in front of you. That
will automatically lead to the next step, and the next, and so
on, and eventually, you will find yourself at your goal.
But there is much more to a Positive Mental Attitude than this.
You can have a positive attitude that immediately disappears in
the face of adversity, or you can have an attitude that is so
strong that no matter what happens to you, you are able to
remain positive, cheerful and optimistic.
The factor of self-confidence is what determines how positive
your attitude really is. And self-confidence is based on your
belief in yourself and your ability. It is based on faith, or
knowing that things are going to work out well in the long run,
no matter how distressing they appear to be in the short run.
Let me give you an example. A friend of mine was called by the
Internal Revenue Service and told that he was to be the subject
of a tax audit. The IRS officer wanted all his tax receipts and
returns for the past three years brought in for examination. My
friend’s first reaction was panic. He immediately became anxious
and afraid of all the things that could happen.
However, he caught himself and began to apply his mind to keep
his attitude calm and positive. First of all, he thought: Have I
done anything that is unacceptable under the existing tax law?
As he thought, he realized that he had made every effort to file
accurate tax returns. He then asked himself who else should be
involved in the audit. As he thought, he realized that his
accountant, who had prepared his tax returns, should be involved
in explaining them. Now he was calm and collected. He phoned his
accountant and apprised him of the situation. The accountant
explained to him that every year, the IRS audits a certain
percentage of tax returns at random. The fact that the IRS had
chosen to audit him had nothing to do with whether or not his
returns were accurate. It was simply routine procedure. The
accountant also explained that if my friend wanted to send him,
the accountant, to the meeting with the IRS agent, my friend
didn’t need to appear.
Now my friend was completely relaxed. He gathered the necessary
documents and turned them over to his accountant, who had had
ample experience in dealing with the IRS. The accountant sat
down with the IRS agent and went through everything, from
beginning to end. When it was over, the IRS agent thanked the
accountant and said that, based on the tax returns, everything
was in perfect order, and there would be no need for a
reassessment or for any additional payments or penalties. The
audit was over, and life went on.
Right from the beginning, you can choose to be positive and
constructive in dealing with any adversity. You can sit down and
think through the situation and then begin to deal with it one
oil barrel at a time.
Of course, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. We are all faced
with four obstacles that tend to get in the way of our
maintaining a Positive Mental Attitude. These obstacles are
fear, worry, anger and doubt.
When things are not working out the way we had expected, our
immediate response is to become fearful and uneasy. We are
afraid that we will lose our money, waste our effort or forfeit
our emotional or physical investment in what we have done. If we
are not careful, we start thinking of our potential losses
rather than focusing on our potential gains.
Fear triggers worry, and we begin to use our power of
imagination to create all sorts of fanciful but negative images
that cause us unhappiness and insomnia and make us unable to
perform effectively. Fear and worry create anger or what has
been called the “victim complex.” Instead of moving constantly
forward in the direction of our dreams, we begin to react and
respond, and to blame other people and other situations for our
problems.
Surrounding these negative emotions is the mental quality of
doubt. Doubt forms the fertile breeding grounds for the other
negative emotions. Therefore, to eliminate these obstacles to
positive thinking, you need to systematically use your mind to
get rid of the weakening emotion of doubt.
How do you do this? It is simple. The only real antidote to
fear, worry, anger and doubt is positive action toward the
achievement of some worthwhile ideal.
Psychologists tell us that the key to dealing effectively with
life is what they call the “cognitive control method.” The
cognitive control method says that you can really think about,
and concentrate on, only one thing at a time, either positive or
negative. Successful people are no different from you or me.
They have one outstanding characteristic, however. They
consciously choose to think about what they want, rather than
what they don’t want. And, as a result, they are continuously
taking action toward their goals, rather than spending their
time thinking and worrying about the inevitable challenges and
difficulties that face them every day.
Dr. Karl Pribram, the respected neuropsychologist, has found
that human beings have holistic mental pictures stored within
their brains. His discovery was that the “law of attraction” is
alive and well and working within the mind of every human being.
Dr. Pribram discovered that any visual image, imagined in
complete detail, sets up a force field of energy that begins to
attract into your life the people, ideas, things and even
circumstances that are consistent with that image.
If you visualize a positive outcome, if you think about it and
see it and feel it and sense it in every respect, you begin to
exert a powerful magnetic force that brings the desired goal or
outcome into reality. In effect, you control your life and your
destiny by the vivid mental images that you hold in your mind on
a continuous basis. You are the architect of your personality
and character. Your goal, your desire, is to be as successful,
happy and prosperous as you possibly can be in every aspect of
your life. Therefore, the systematic and purposeful development
of a Positive Mental Attitude is something that you need to work
on every hour.
There are six things you can do to assure that your attitude is
the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather
than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who
is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to
do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future,
and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that
direction. As the New Testament says, “Let the dead bury the
dead.” Let the past take care of itself, and get your mind, your
thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Second, whenever you’re faced with a difficulty, focus on the
solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the
ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting
time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are
inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative.
The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you
become a positive and constructive human being.
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each
difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major
proponent of positive thinking, once said, “Whenever God wants
to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.” The bigger the
gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive.
But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you
will always find it.
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the
moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be
successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you
learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand
and grow. One of the affirmations I have learned to use
continually is this: “Every situation is a positive situation if
I view it as an opportunity for growth and self-mastery.” That
is a wonderful affirmation. You cannot say it without thinking
positive thoughts, feeling positive emotions, and seeing
positive actions that you can take.
Fifth, in every challenge, look for the valuable lesson. Assume
that every setback contains a lesson that is essential for you
to learn. Only when you learn this lesson will you be smart
enough and wise enough to go on to achieve the big goals that
you have set for yourself. Again, since you can think about only
one thing at a time, if you are busy looking for the lesson, you
cannot simultaneously think about the difficulty or the
obstacle. And, surprise, surprise, you will always find the
lesson, if you look for it.
Finally, the sixth way to keep your mind positive all the time
is to make a list. Whenever you have a goal that is unachieved,
a difficulty that is unresolved, or a problem that is blocking
you from getting where you want to go, sit down with a pen and
paper and make a list of every single thing that you could
possibly do to resolve the situation. The more you think on
paper, the more you will take control over your conscious mind.
When you are writing down possible solutions, your mind will be
positive, all the time. As you write, you are taking advantage
of the power of visualization, and all kinds of insights and
ideas will pop onto the page in front of you. By the time you
stand up, ready to take the first step that you see, you will be
happy, eager, and enthusiastic about getting on with achieving
your goals.
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You
can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply take
actions consistent with achieving your goals rather than actions
that cause you to feel the negative emotions of worry, doubt,
anger and fear. If you do what other successful people do, if
you use your mind to think, to exert mental control over the
situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time.
And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
About Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy is a leading
authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO
of
Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling
author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning
programs. Copyright © 2001 Brian Tracy International. All Rights
Reserved.
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