You Are What You Think!

Many years ago, I began my research into, which then created my strong belief in, the power of positive thinking. This motivational point of view has led me to advise businesses and organizations, train management, teach the art and science of marketing and sales, as well as embarking on a career giving seminars on motivational thinking topics. Before I was a believer, a speaker said that "You are what you think," and at the time, I kidded that I must therefore be either a woman or a sports hero, because that's what I predominantly thought about at the time.

However, there is no greater truism than the incredible power of the mind determing our actions and successes. When an individual does not believe in himself, almost invariable that person does not succeed. They often are so busy visualizing the reasons why they cannot do something that they often do not put forth enough effort to be successful. "Mind power" is not solely an expression, but the mind often determines one success or failure. I have witnessed innumerable examples of two equally talented, intelligent, and trained individuals, who end up with far different results in terms of success or failure. The vast majority of the time the successful person is the one that visualizes success and believes he can success, while the less successful individual foresees numerous "problems" and reasons why it can't be done.

It is important to understand that while some people always have reasons why it can't be done, others come up with ways to get it done. While positive individuals see obstacles, negative individuals see problems. Clearly, problems are not fun, and we often try to avoid problems, while obstacles bring an image of something that may be somewhat difficult, but can be done, and is a challenge (instead of a problem). Great golfers, for example, see difficult shots as challenging, and often make shots that we 'duffers" consider incredible! The rest of us "duffers" often see these difficult shots as impossible, and our results are generally also less than stellar.

Positive attitudes and motivations tend to create an individual who learns from both his strengths and weaknesses, addressing those weaknesses in a constructive manner, and utilizing the strengths to ones advantage. An individual's "self talk" can either be constructive or destructive, and the most successful individuals motivate themselves to believe they can achieve.

Our perceptions often lead us to conceive of something in a particular way. Once we believe and conceive in a positive manner, our probability of achievement is maximized. It is essential that each of us give ourselves the best opportunity to succeed.