But It’s Never Been Attempted Before……….
“The trouble with you is you look at life through rose-colored glasses and don’t face reality” blurted my friend of many years across the table of the restaurant we were in.
I was taken aback by the sudden outburst. It wasn’t in line with what we had been talking about and came completely out of left field.
I really wasn’t prepared and frankly, I was lost for words which isn’t a good thing for someone in my job.
We continued on having lunch and as I was walking back to my hotel I pondered what his outburst was all about. I had known my friend for years and years & although we went our separate ways and led different lives we always caught up when we could.
I had noticed that he had become increasingly negative about many things as time went by.
In fact, he was sometimes hard to be around due to his negativity. As someone who tries to eliminate as much negativity and negative thinking as possible, it sometimes was a challenge.
The Effects of Negative Thinking
Negative thinking, like the common “It’s never been done before” mentality, has stopped many a great dream in its tracks: Here’s a list of some of the things that negativity does.
How motivated do you think people will be if they’re always hearing reasons why “it’s too hard to do, that’s not realistic” or “ your business can’t grow because of the market & economy … you’ll never make it because you don’t have the right connections … blah blah blah
- Negativity breeds excuses rather than opportunities
For every opportunity, you will find 10,000 people with an excuse. The unsuccessful remain unsuccessful because they think every opportunity is a scam.
Instead of looking at the opportunity & doing due diligence, they automatically dismiss it. This is the pattern of the negative mindset. Rather, an achiever needs to find an opportunity and take hold of it. Don’t make excuses.
- Negativity builds doubt rather than faith
Negativity thrives on doubt and other people’s insecurities. It is easier to dismiss people’s ideas as fanciful than to encourage them.
- Negativity reproduces itself {unfortunately} and this causes friction and division.
It is amazing how negative people can find each other in a crowd. It’s almost like they are drawn to each other for comfort and reassurance. They send out radar that says “No, it’s impossible, you’re attempting more than we can cope with,” and so on.
So often in business and life, people approach a visionary, an entrepreneur, or a leader and, with well-meaning constructive criticism, say things similar to, “You realize what everyone is saying it can’t be done, …” or “I thought I had to inform you that we won’t reach our goal because …” That’s it, no further exploration on how it can be done by other strategies or modified, just a straight out, it cant be done.
As a visionary, as an entrepreneur don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by critics. If this happens to you ask, “Who is saying . . . ?” Get the critic to define where the negatives are coming from.
Often “Everyone!” is really a handful of bedwetters, or dream stealers who won’t have anything to do with the venture or project anyway. All they’ve done is send out their negative vibes to make them feel better about their own preconceptions & insecurities.
Nothing deflates people more than negativity, so follow your vision and think positive!
In the services, negative vibes merchants are quickly identified and removed from the situation.
- Negativity promotes an underachiever mentality.
A positive person is one who knows they can achieve. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t you’re right!”
- Negativity lacks purpose and joy.
Your mindset affects you emotionally. Negativity can cause you to spiral into depression & also cause physical ill-health.
Conversely, positive thinking and belief can create a life of joy and satisfaction. In fact, by being a positive person you will actually attract more opportunities in your life
- Negativity pulls down instead of building up. People with a negative mindset always find issues. A positive mindset finds answers, ways of doing things. Negative people have a problem for every solution.
- Negativity binds the capacity to dream.
Negativity limits. It places constraints and limits to how far you can go, how big your business can grow, how you perform in your career, your life, even how much you earn. On the reverse side, a positive mindset has no limits-it shoots for the stars.
- Negativity justifies its own existence.
‘I can’t make it because of my family upbringing. I can’t make it to the top because of where I live. I don’t have what it takes. I’m sure you’ve heard many more as well.
- Negativity contaminates relationships.
Negative people will always find the worst points in others. I have the quote, “Sit at the winner’s table, the conversation is different” attached to one of my computer monitors. It reminds me to limit the amount of negativity in my life.
Consider the words of the famous motivator & trainer Dale Carnegie
“Feeling sorry for yourself and your present condition is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.”
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been in life, where you have come from, or what you have been through. What matters is where you’re going. Everybody gets hurt, everybody has ‘Stuff”.
Hurt is hurt and failure is failure, no matter how it comes to you. How you respond to it makes all the difference to your world and the world around you.
Victory Mentality
One of the greatest motivators for living beyond victimized thinking is to get a vision, a purpose and pursue it. If you have a dream you will develop a “victory mentality”.
Your success in life is not based on what has happened in the past but on what can happen in the future.
Conclusion
I remember helping out a wildly successful businessman a few years ago. Many people reading this would know of him or his name. He is a major donor to many charities, a champion of business, and also had great influence in business, sport & politics.
He took me to lunch at one of the finest restaurants as an added thank you for the work I did for him.
During lunch, he told me of his drive and passion to improve and create opportunities. He told me stories of the struggles the Jewish people had endured over time. He told me of the major obstacles he and his parents had to endure, moving to a new land with little money and being unable to speak the language
He told me of feeling grateful every day for the opportunity their new country gave them. He told me of his passion for the arts, for improving the lives of people, and his brutal work ethic. He told me his grand plans for the next 20 years.
He also told me that he was 81 years old.
Don’t let negativity or excuses stop you.
David
