You may often hear about the power of positive thinking, and in a very negative way think to yourself: “what a load of crap!” I can relate to this way of thinking – I spent many years being cynical all the time. It did me no good to be that way, and I eventually realized that I was setting myself up for disasters time and time again.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you can change the world by being positive all the time. I also won’t tell you that you can avoid negative things happening in your life, just by being positive. What I am going to tell you is this: a positive attitude and mentality, success, and positive outcomes all go hand in hand with each other. In other words, if you believe you can achieve something, and you maintain a positive attitude even when times get tough, you will prevail. If you give up, of course, you will fail. Basically; what the mind thinks is what the mind will attain and / or make happen. So, if the mind thinks that failure is immanent, it sure is! Your thoughts are shaping your life, whether you want them to or not.

A great example of this is in a competition where you have two or more athletes all up for one prize or goal. Alan, Mark, and Joey (real scenario, made up names) are all competing at the same level, and are of very comparable skills and physical attributes.

Alan feels ready to take on the competition even though he knows he is up against tough competitors, and he is confident that he will win – it shows in his actions, even on his face. Mark feels pretty confident but he’s still not 100 per cent sure of himself, and Joey, though he knows he is an amazing athlete, does not feel up to par to be competing with Alan and Mark.

Joey has a negative attitude toward the outcome of this competition, before it has even begun. Just like the way the positive energy showed on Alan’s face, Joey’s  negative attitude is shining strong too. Unfortunately for him, the judges of this particular competition are looking for the athlete who is most confident in what they do, even if they do it with slightly less gusto than those against them.

Alan, of course, won this competition, though even he agreed that he was not the better athlete of the three. It was his opinion that Joey was likely to be the best in this competition, but he was determined to win, and maintained his positivity through to the end.

A cheesy example, maybe, but if you take anything from this, than I don’t mind being a bit of a cheeseball. If I can sway just one negative natty to try positive thinking I have done my job here. Just remember that positive thinking and attitude don’t just come over night. It takes a lot of practice to go from being negative all the time to being positive. It gets easier once you see results, so just be positive – positive thinking will prove its power to you to!