Focusing on the Positive

Here are two posts with a similar and interesting thread - the power of the positive.

In this post Curt on the Worthwhile Mag. Blog writes about the Happiness Project, a blog and soon to be book about a woman who is taking a year to try many, many ways to improve happiness.

I think that is one of the things that is missing from so many self-help books. Reality doesn't stop because you've finished the book. It keeps going tomorrow, and next month, and next year. Reality is a long-term commitment.

In this post, Steve Pavlina, addresses how to help negative people and warns against getting sucked being negative by their victim conversation tractor beams.

One of the most important considerations when helping someone in a negative state is that you must avoid falling into negativity yourself.  Negative people are energy vampires.  They have an almost endless capacity to dwell on what they don’t want, whining and complaining about their lives while denying responsibility for their results.  Their fear blocks the natural flow of energy from within, so they must get it from other people instead.

I was facilitating a short session on how to generate breakthroughs and the topic of self-talk came up. It is important that we are not focusing on what we DON'T want, because then we just get more of that.

Good: Let's go for a fun hike this morning, this will help me feel great all day.
Bad: I have not exercised in three day - uugh!

Good: I am going do one small thing today - right now.
Bad: I feel like my goals are on hold.

What's your self-talk saying to you? Are you focusing on what you want and what you can and will do today in support of your goal? Or are you focusing on what you don't want?

I recently got another motorcycle and started riding again after two years off two wheels. There was a bit of a retraining that needed to occur. I had to remember how to ride. Several years ago I took a riding course to learn to ride correctly and I could hear the instructor's voice reminding me of the most important principles (like that you push the handle bar to steer, not pull).

Another important principle is to make sure you look in the direction you want to go and you DO NOT look in a direction you don't want to go. For example, let's say you are riding along and you come upon  curly Q onramp. No problem on dry days, but on wet days, it can be a bit gnarly, especially if the road has slippery metal joiners. Here's the point: It is natural to look at the outside section of the road to ensure that you don't migrate over there. You want to clear the curly Q and stay in the good part of the road. As hard as it is sometimes, I have to focus on the path that I want my wheels to take, not where I want to avoid.

Our body (and therefore bike, it's an extension of the body) goes where our eyes focus. Our actions follow what our mind it thinking about.