According to a 2013 Associated Press survey, 80% of America’s adults were struggling with unemployment, poverty or near poverty. That’s a lot of unhappy people. Unhappy people tend to have unhappy thoughts.
Conversely, happy people tend to have happy thoughts. Cognitive psychologists call this tendency to see the world through either a negative or positive lens, mood congruency.
According to the latest science, negativity inhibits your ability to think clearly. When the lens through which you view the world is negative, you see nothing but problems. You become blind to opportunities. A negative mental outlook causes tunnel vision, limiting creativity.
If you’re one of those 80% struggling in life, a negative mental outlook acts like gasoline, fueling the flames of negativity and perpetuating a life of unemployment, poverty or near poverty.
A positive mental outlook, according to that same science, enhances creativity, problem solving and allows you to see opportunities.
So, if you want to increase your odds for success, you need to flip the switch.
But how do you flip the switch from a negative outlook to a positive outlook?
Gratitude!
Gratitude is the gateway to optimism and a positive mental outlook.
Gratitude forces you to shift your focus from what you lack, scarcity, to what you have, abundance.
The other day, for some reason, my car stalled at a traffic light on my way to work. Ten cars were lined up behind me. In a panic, I immediately re-started my car and everything was fine. The first thought I had was, thank God my car started right up.
How many times do we turn the key every morning to start our car and think nothing of it?
We need to make a daily habit of being grateful for the simple things in life.
My car started today, I was able to feed my family, I have a roof over my head, I’m healthy, I’m alive, I have a loving family, etc.
When you shift your thinking to the good things about your life, you force your brain to shift from negative to positive.
If you practice gratitude every day, eventually a positive, abundance mindset will replace your negative, scarcity mindset.
Gratitude changes the lens through which you view your world, from negative to positive. And when that happens, you’ll begin to see solutions to your problems. Ideas will pop into your head that will help you climb your way out of your unemployment, poverty or near poverty.
Expressing gratitude every day is not some pseudo, new age bunk. Gratitude is the gateway to optimism and a positive mental outlook. It’s the means to transforming your life from one filled with scarcity, problems and limitations to one filled with abundance, solutions and limitless opportunities.
There are numerous ways to achieve financial independence (4 Paths to Becoming a Self-Made Millionaire – http://richhabits.net/4-paths-becoming-self-made-millionaire/).
But no matter which path you take, the starting point is always the same – an optimistic, positive outlook.
If you want to be rich, you must get your head straight. The starting point for success is always the same – Positive Thinking!
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About Thomas C. Corley
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