We hear it all the time – “Think positive!” or “Remember the power of positive thinking!”.  Is there really power in positive thinking? Absolutely! You may not be able to make miracles happen simply by thinking positively, but you’ll certainly never make things happen by thinking negatively!!

Here are a few tips to help you defeat negative thinking:

Avoid adopting a “victim” mentality. Don’t let life come at you and just happen.  Take responsibility for creating your life.  Obviously, certain occurrences are beyond your control; I’m talking about things that happen as a result of your own actions and then crying “woe is me”.  For example, if you’re late for work every day, chances are you’ll eventually be fired.  When that dismissal occurs, you can’t pout about it and act like you’re a victim of something, falling prey to your own negative thinking.  It happened as a result of choices you made (perhaps continually staying up too late and consequently oversleeping).  MAKE a choice. COMMIT to going to bed at a decent hour and never being late for your NEXT job!

Find a collection of positive motivational quotes online, bookmark it and visit whenever negative thinking starts creeping in.  Pick one that especially resonates with you, jot it on an index card and stick it to your bulletin board (or write it on a Post-It and stick it to your computer monitor, mirror, fridge, etc).

Make a list of at least three things you are grateful for right now.  This will shift your focus from what you don’t have to what you do have, which can help transform your negative thinking to positive.

Help someone else in some way.  This is another great technique for shifting focus away from whatever may be causing your negative thinking.  You’ll start feeling better just knowing you’ve done something positive in someone else’s life (as Jesus taught, there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving!).

Turn your negative thoughts into positives.  Instead of simply, “I’m going to have a hard time meeting my client’s deadline,” practice thinking more along the lines of, “Meeting my client’s deadline is going to be a challenge, but I can surely come up with a solution to make it happen.”

Again, while you’re not guaranteed a desired outcome just by thinking positively, you can be assured said outcome is out of reach if you consistently practice negative thinking.