Stinkin’ Thinkin’
One of my all-time favorite motivational speakers and authors was Zig Zigler. With the temperament of the world today, I think he would be saying, “If you have stinkin’ thinkin’, you need a check-up from the neck up. And, right now, the world needs a serious check-up. The world is a negative, even hostile place. I’m so sick of the negative blather that comes with election season alone. The first ten stories on the evening news are about death, destruction, and all sorts of mayhem.
A positive, possibility mindset is imperative to be successful today, but it takes work. The key is to eliminate the noise. Shut off the television, avoid blatant negativity and stay away from negative people!
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill might be the best personal and professional development book ever written. The book’s premise is simple; We are what we think about most of the time. Suppose you have people around you (and you will have) who are always complaining, making excuses, whining, and griping about anything, everything, and everyone. In that case, your thinking, attitude, and actions will always be influenced by them. You will become the same as your environment. It’s a harsh lesson to learn. It’s even harder discipline to apply. Still, to be as successful as you can be, you must dump all negative influences and surround yourself with positive, forward-thinking, goal-oriented people. You must seek positive input through supportive mentors and new friends and associates who are possibility minded. You must focus on the WHAT IS rather than the WHAT IF. You can control the what is, and you can only speculate on the WHAT IF and have no control.
Look, success is very lonely. Unfortunately, that concept is never taught in business school. Success is lonely, and no one will ever tell you that, but it is. This is why you must surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can support you in tough times and help push you forward. The shift to changing the negative noise can be painful. However, the pain is worth the reward. I’ve written about it before, but the fact is, in the worst of times that our country and the world have ever experienced, in every case, more millionaires were created during these periods. Why? Because while the majority were wallowing in the negativity of the times, others looked for possibilities and opportunities.
So, look for and surround yourself with like-minded, hardworking achievers. They’re out there, and you’ll need to work hard to seek them out, but they are out there. Go find them and start a movement. Rufuse to accept negativity from anyone or any source for that matter. Stand tall and others will find you, and you can create positive change together.
This Great Truth alone will advance your career at least ten years quicker.