How to be Positive & Stop Negative Thinking

In our last article about Breaking Addiction, we talked about breaking the addiction of negative thoughts. We discussed the 1st step which was:”I choose to ask questions nd not make assumptions”. Today we’ll cover the other 2 steps that will help you be a positive thinker.

2- I don’t take criticism personally

Oscar Wilde once said about critics who wrote about his plays: “Criticism is a form of autobiography.”

He was right. Criticism reveals more about the critic than it does about the person or event being criticized.

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote: “Don’t take anything personally.”

Nothing anyone ever says to you or does to you is about you. It is a projection of the feelings and reactions that are going on inside the person doing the criticizing.

How I felt about being criticized

Criticism used to bother me a great deal, even if I wasn’t altogether sure it was directed at me. My self esteem was so low that I automatically assumed that anything negative or derogatory was meant for me and was true.

Two realizations helped me change how I perceived criticism:

• Even winners get criticized. But they can ignore it. They can evaluate its worth and discard what they don’t believe has merit.
• Criticism is actually a gift. If someone gives you a gift and you refuse it, to whom does it belong? Just because someone criticizes me doesn’t mean I have to even acknowledge it. But since its free, it would be foolish if I didn’t choose to at least examine it to see if it has any value.

It has taken me many years and hundreds of choices, some good and some not so good, to reach a level where I can again consider myself a winner. The key to being a winner is to not give up.

There are 4 characteristics that winners have.

1. Winners know it’s not all about them.
2. Winners care about others.
3. Winners know how to love and be loved.
4. Winners treat others like they’re also winners.

I fell a lot more times than I wanted to, but how many times I fell isn’t what mattered. All that mattered is that I kept getting up. Life is like selling vacuum cleaners. The more doors you knock on, the more times you open yourself up to failure – but the more doors you knock on, the more sales you are going to make.

The third and final step…

3 – Whatever I do, I always do my best.

I want to live without regrets about what might have been if only I tried a little harder.

Life is like a boxing match. Sometimes you’re fighting someone who is stronger, faster, and smarter.

But you can still win. You’ve just gotta take his best shot and keep coming.

As the American heavy-weight champion Jack Dempsey said, “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”

In other words, Winners Don’t Quit!

This is an excerpt from Al’s book ” Achieving No Limits”

Keynote Speaker Al Foxx provides thoughtful and inspiring messages that includes plenty of humor.

Contact him the next time you need a speaker