The Power of Positive Thinking: Transforming Your Mindset and Your Life

Our minds can work for us or against us depending on how we train them. We reach our goals in life by thinking thoughts that allow us to enjoy each day. When it works against us we get discouraged and negative and it keeps us from achieving what we want or need to do.

How Our Thoughts Shape Our Reality

I am working with an executive that is struggling with depression and negative thinking. It all started with his thought process— he is in his late fifties and has not achieved what he thought he would have.

It has even affected his physical health. Recent studies have linked a positive mindset to lower cardiovascular risk, lower levels of stress hormones, lower inflammation, higher function of the immune system and better coping skills during difficult times.

People who think positively can see potential in the most difficult of times. While the negative thinkers are quick to point out situations problems and limitations. In one of my meetings with this client, he told me that it was impossible for him to accomplish his company goals because his team is comprised of people who are very young, inexperienced and don’t know how to work hard.

Lessons from Joshua and Caleb: Faith Over Fear

Scripture tells us about twelve spies that were sent into the promised land.Ten of them saw a situation that they thought was impossible. Two of them— Joshua and Caleb brought back good reports full of faith and confidence.

Being positive does not mean that we deny the existence of difficulty. It means that we believe that our God is bigger than our problems. If we trust God more than our circumstances we will see the power of our thoughts come to life.

The Ripple Effect of Words

The way we think also affects the way we speak. And the way we speak affects the way that others respond to us. As I told my client if you speak negatively to your team you will get negative responses. The opposite is also true. The most common type of negativism is skepticism. Thomas Edison told his friend Henry that he could not build a motorized car.

How many good ideas have been squelched by negative comments. And what does that say about our culture today where people ridicule everything?

When my son was young he was told by an English teacher that he was not a good student because his writing was too concise. Today he has a PHD and a successful career in the aerospace industry.

My client was practicing Murphy’s Law. He needs to train his mind to think positively toward every situation and train his tounge to speak positive to everyone around him. He needs to adopt God’s way of thinking which is nothing is as difficult as it appears, and all things will be for our good.

When we focus on the negative elements of a situation we tend to filter out all the good and exaggerate the bad.

Sometimes we personalize things and make things that go wrong seem like they are against us. When I coached baseball I made it a point of emphasis that one bad play does not lose the entire game.

Overcoming Perfectionism and Embracing Grace

But everything in life is not black and white, we have to accept a few grays. Some of us participate in polarized thinking. It is common for people who expect perfect out of themselves. And if we expect perfect out of life in general, we expect the same thing from people that we deal with. And when our expectations are not met we are greatly disappointed. And it places unbearable pressure on the people we care about and can even destroy relationships. So, if we all make mistakes once in a while, why not relax and realize that it is part of the human experience.

A few months ago, my five year old grandson was playing nerf guns at our home. He went out the back door to the porch, the other back door to the patio, the door to the garage, the front door etc and he left all the doors wide open. Finally, I stopped him and I said hey buddy, were you born in a barn? ( do you think that was negative enough?).

He looked at me with a serious look on his face and answered “ no but Jesus was and he turned out ok.”

So much for being negative about a few open doors.