How to Stop Negative Thinking and the Benefits of Positive Thinking

Positive Thinking is not only beneficial for the health; it also affects the people around you as well. Negative thinking is more crippling than most people think. Read on to Stop Negative Thinking and enjoy the benefits of Positive Thinking instead!

“Think positive!” I’m sure you’ve had someone give you that advice before. Whenever you’re down and about to lose hope, your friends and family often tell you to keep your head up and move forward because things will work themselves out in the end.

What are the benefits of Positive Thinking?

Psychological studies have documented that people with a positive attitude in life live healthier lives. According to experts, having a positive mood is good for the morale. This enables to person to overcome adversities in life more efficiently compared to a pessimist. They are also able to reach their goal faster because of their perseverance and determination.

The American Psychological association released a journal linking the benefits of positive thinking to better overall health. The journal documents that the pessimistic respondents were more likely to become frail later in life.

Frailty in the journal was measure using weight loss, exhaustion, walking speed and grip strength. Although there was no concrete conclusion, psychologists say that having a positive outlook increases a person’s resources which helps them cope with stress and illnesses better.

The benefits of positive thinking are not only with health; it also affects the people around you as well. A person with a positive attitude is more likely able to cheer up a friend in need compared to a pessimistic individual. In some cases, having a positive attitude is infectious which brings balance and harmony in the workplace or at home.

How to Stop Negative Thinking

Negative thinking is more crippling than most people think. It not only affects a person emotionally but psychologically, socially and even physically as well. Eliminating negative thoughts is not as simple as saying to yourself “stop negative thinking!” Thankfully, there are techniques and tips developed by experts to help pessimists stop negative thinking.

The first step to stop negative thinking is to recognize that you are thinking negative thoughts. You won’t be able to stop a problem in its tracks if you can’t address it properly. You need to be self-aware whenever you feel any negative emotions like anger, sadness or frustration. Once you realize you are having negative thoughts, you can restrain yourself from having them.

Whenever you feel bad about something, you can rationalize why you feel that way. This is the second step in addressing your negative attitude. Why are you angry? Why are you sad? What makes you feel frustrated? Address the reasons and stop dwelling on it.

It may not be as easy as it sounds, but trust me, you’ll get there soon. You have to remember that some things are out of your control and it’s ok to feel sad or angry when something bad happens. The important thing is that you don’t let the feeling linger anymore than it should.

Find a hobby or an activity to distract your mind from thinking negative thoughts. A hobby that involves thinking is a good way to distract your mind; try solving jigsaw puzzles to help calm yourself.

Have a hobby that is as productive as possible. Set up a woodshop in your home, write or paint; it doesn’t matter whether you think you’re artistic enough or not. Instead of spending your free time sulking around the house, you can start creating works of art.

Final thoughts on Positive Thinking and Negative Thinking

Finally, focus on the positive instead of the negative. Instead of dwelling on the things you’ve lost, remind yourself of what you have in the present. Bad things happen to everyone, so does good things; count your blessings no matter how small it may seem.

Remember that good and bad times come and go – its called life! If you can train your brain to stop negative thinking quickly by using the above suggestions, you are well on the way to experiencing the benefits of Positive Thinking!

By MaryAnn Roche

Self Discipline Be the Course Master

You can become your own course master with self discipline and find the control and focus you need to be successful.

Self-discipline is the ability to do whatever it takes to overcome obstacles and reach your goals, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable. It may involve saying: “no” to things you want or saying: “yes” to things you hate, but with the power of self discipline, it becomes easier to stand up for yourself.

Self discipline is a powerful attribute to have, yet challenging to obtain.

Most individuals would love to be more self-disciplined, yet very few people actually take action to acquire it.

Perhaps you start your day with good intentions, but veer off as the day progresses due to challenging issues, stresses, or distractions. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can incorporate into your daily life so you can become a master of self-discipline and stay on task.

Follow these techniques to strengthen your self-discipline:

1. Be committed to the cause.

Are you truly unhappy being undisciplined? Is this something that you’re committed to improving? Many times people claim they want to be more self- disciplined, but the truth is, they honestly don’t mind being the way they are.

* Be honest with yourself. If this is something that you definitely want to improve in your life, it may take a bit of time and effort, but it can be done.

* The only way you’ll succeed is by staying committed to the cause.

2. Write it down.
The process of writing your ideas and goals helps you clarify the thoughts in your mind so you can come up with an action plan that you can stick to.

* Write down all the areas that you wish to improve – your finances, relationships, career, or anything in between.

Include what changes you would like to see and how you believe will be the best way to make it happen.

3. Enlist the help of others.

It’s absolutely wonderful that you’ve committed to make a positive change in your life, but don’t keep it under wraps. Tell others that you want to make a change and boost your self-discipline.

* Don’t be ashamed that you weren’t more self-disciplined from the beginning. The important thing is that you’re now taking positive action! Those who love you will be there to support you and help you celebrate your successes.

* Your support group can also help you get through the bad days and put you back on track to achieve your goals.

4. Believe in yourself.

Have faith in yourself and know that if you can master your self-discipline, you can do anything! There will be both good and bad days, but as long as you remain focused and committed, you’ll be successful in strengthening your self-discipline.

* Remember to focus on the big picture and concentrate on how your body, mind, and energy will change for the better when you stay committed.

Many people admire those who are self-disciplined. These people can stay on a schedule and never seem to lose focus on what they need to accomplish.

They make more wise decisions, take action when they need to, and achieve their goals with relative ease. Implement these strategies into your daily life and they’ll soon become habits. You can be the course master of your own self discipline, it can become your way of life – if you want it!

How You Can Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is often characterized as a scientific, analytical way of thinking. It helps us form more knowledgeable opinions and make better decisions. That certainly seems like a beneficial skill to have, but how do you develop the ability to think critically?

Critical thinking doesn’t equal higher intelligence. In layman’s terms, it’s just a more logical way to think about solutions from all angles.

Some of us may have stronger critical thinking skills than others, but we can all learn how to improve and develop our mind.

Here are some suggestions that can help you strengthen your critical thinking skills:

1. Clarify.

Make sure you have a clear understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve. You won’t be able to reasonably analyze a situation and locate a solution if you’re not completely clear on what you’re trying to accomplish!

* It’s also important that you place your own feelings about the situation aside. You cannot get a clear understanding of the issue if you have prejudiced opinions and biases about it.

2. Attempt to find a solution.

Take some time with a pen and paper to define all possibilities. At this time you’ll also want to map out how you’ll be able to reach each of these solutions.

* Include the benefits and challenges of each solution. To learn how to improve and develop your critical thinking skills, you must be open to new ideas, so try and incorporate as much as you can into your list.

3. Information.

Next, gather as much information as possible to support all the solutions you’re considering, as well as information you need to refute them.

* Considering your solutions from all angles will keep you from making a haphazard decision, which would not be classified in the realm of critical thinking.

4. Learn how to analyze.

Now you have a problem, a list of solutions, and all the information you need to support or refute each of those decisions. So what do you do with it all?

* You’ll need time to analyze everything. Take everything into consideration and don’t assume anything. Make sure you have irrefutable evidence to back everything up. The more you practice this, the better you’ll ultimately get at it, so keep plugging away.

5. Conclude.

Make an intelligent conclusion to your original problem. Make sure you have the documentation to back up and prove your decision. Always make sure this is a reasonable conclusion that is relatively simple to put into action.

* If you’ve put the time and effort into analyzing the problem and gathering the information, your conclusion should be able to support itself.

Final Thoughts on Critical Thinking

By following the steps explained here, you have just used your critical thinking skills! Though it may seem unnatural at first, as with everything, as you continue to practice these strategies, your critical thinking skills will continue to improve and develop.

Thinking critically can help you with many aspects in your life. Keep practicing these skills on a regular basis and soon you’ll enjoy the benefits of better decisions and superior choices!

Kymmy Link Presents Brian Tracy, Self-Discipline for Success

Today I would like to present more content by the wonderful Brian Tracy.My regular readers will know how much of a fan I am of Brian Tracy and you can read all about him on a dedicated page in my menu!

Todays Personal Development article is Self-Discipline for Success

There is one special quality that you can develop that will guarantee you greater success, accomplishment and happiness in life. Of a thousand principles for success developed over the ages, this one quality or practice will do more to assure that you accomplish wonderful things with your life than anything else. This quality is so important that, if you don’t develop it to a high degree, it is impossible for you to ever achieve what you are truly capable of achieving.

The quality that I am talking about is the quality of self-discipline. It is a habit, a practice, a philosophy and a way of living. All successful men and women are highly disciplined in the important work that they do. All unsuccessful men and women are undisciplined and unable to control their behaviors and their appetites. And when you develop the same levels of high, personal discipline possessed by the most successful people in our society, you will very soon begin to achieve the same results that they do.

All great success in life is preceded by…..

 long, sustained periods of focused effort on a single goal, the most important goal, with the determination to stay with it until it is complete. Throughout history, we find that every man or woman who achieved anything lasting and worthwhile, had engaged in long, often unappreciated hours, weeks, months and even years of concentrated, disciplined work, in a particular direction.

Fortunately the quality of self-discipline is something that you can learn by continuous practice, over and over, until you master it. Once you have mastered the ability to delay gratification, the ability to discipline yourself to keep your attention focused on the most important task in front of you, there is virtually no goal that you cannot accomplish and no task that you cannot complete.

Successful people engage in activities that are goal-achieving. Unsuccessful people engage in activities that are tension-reliving. Successful people discipline themselves to have dinner before dessert. Unsuccessful people prefer to have dessert most of the time.

Successful people plan their work, and work their plan.

They take the time to think through their responsibilities before they begin. They make clear decisions which they then implement immediately. They get a lot more done in a shorter period of time than the average person. And it all has to do with their disciplines.

Perhaps the most important benefit of self-discipline is the personal benefit that you receive. Every act of self-discipline increases your self-esteem. It gives you a feeling of personal power and accomplishment. Each time you discipline yourself to persist in the face of distractions, diversions, and disappointments, you feel better about yourself.

As you continue to discipline yourself, you achieve more and more in life. As you achieve more things, you feel more like a winner. Your self-confidence goes up. You feel happier about yourself. You get more done and you have more energy. You earn the respect and esteem of the people around you. You get more rapid promotions and are paid more money. You live in a nicer house, drive a nicer car, and wear nicer clothes.

You get a natural high from the thrill of achievement. And the more things that you achieve as the result of employing your personal habits of effectiveness and productivity, the more eager you are to achieve even higher and better tasks. Your life gets onto an upward spiral of success and happiness. You feel great about yourself most of the time.

Every act of self-discipline strengthens every other discipline in your life.

Every weakness of self-discipline weakens your other disciplines as well. When you make a habit of disciplining yourself in little things, like flossing your teeth every night, you’ll soon become able to discipline yourself to accomplish even larger things, like working long, long hours to bring a major task to completion.

Your entire life is an on-going battle between the forces of doing what is right and necessary on the one hand and doing what is fun and easy on the other hand. It is a battle between the forces of discipline and the forces of ease or expediency. And when you develop the strength of character that gives you complete self-mastery, self-control and self-discipline, you feel wonderful about yourself. You develop a deep inner sense of strength and confidence. You replace positive thinking with positive knowing. You reach the point inside where you absolutely know that you can do whatever it takes to achieve any goal that you can set for yourself.

Self discipline is its own reward.

Not only does it pay off in terms of greater self-esteem and a more positive mental attitude, but it pays off throughout your life in terms of the goals that you achieve and the success that you attain in everything you do.

Self-discipline is a skill and a habit that can be learned by practice. Every time you practice a little self-discipline, you become stronger and stronger. Bit by bit, you become more capable of even greater disciplines. As you become a totally self-disciplined individual, your entire future opens up in front of you like a broad highway. Everything including Success becomes possible for you and your future becomes unlimited.

And that there, my friends is words of wisdom from Brian Tracy!




Tags: Brian Tracy, Self-Discipline, Success

How You Can Become a Strong Leader

How can you become a strong leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, and instills a sense of trust? Learning what makes a great leader is your first step.

A leader is created and the whole process starts inside the most dangerous place you’ll ever encounter – your own mind.

Projecting Strong Leadership

Here are some things you can do to become the leader you’ve always wanted to be and project strong leadership:

1. Know your people.

You can’t truly lead a group of people unless you truly understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All the good intentions in the world mean nothing unless you have a true sense of the people you’re working with.

* Talk to your team and get to know them. Getting to know each other on a personal level will strengthen the bond between you. They’ll want to do better for you because you’re more than just a “boss.”


* Be their leader, first, and their friend second. You’re their leader and that means that you have to make difficult decisions from time to time. These decisions cannot be affected by personal relationships.

2. Project your goals.

If the people you’re leading don’t completely understand the deeper meaning in their work, they won’t share your vision or work ethic. Every step of the way, communicate with your team to make sure they’re on the same wavelength and know what you expect of them.

* Get your team involved in the planning process and the implementation of your ideas. This gives everyone a greater sense of ownership toward the end result.

3. Control yourself.

Every great leader in history has had to become a master of self-discipline and willpower in order to stay focused on the big picture. If you don’t have a goal or the drive to achieve it, you can’t lead others to attain theirs.

* Follow through in everything you do. As challenging as it may be, you need to be disciplined enough to be where you need to be, when you need to be there, whether you want to or not. By being strong in your resolve and resisting temptation to give up, you are setting an example for others to live up to.

* Choose your emotional response to a situation carefully. Sometimes you’ll need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts when they’re not appropriate in order to set a positive example.

4. Praise highly and criticize constructively.

The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference in being able to lead effectively.

* Make sure you publicly praise the people who do excellent work for you. You’ll give the person a sense of accomplishment and the drive to do even better.

* When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism and do it privately. Suggest solutions on how they can improve and take the time to answer any questions. They’ll accept your input more willingly if they know it’s done to help and not to harm.

5. Make the hard call.

There are times when you have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very hard at times. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to handle these matters.

Leadership or Strong Leader?

Regardless of where your leadership role takes you, believe that you can be a strong leader. Remember that in order to lead others, you must be disciplined yourself. After all, your actions will speak louder than anything you can say.

In order to gain the respect of others, strive to lead by example in every area of your life. When you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true leader!

If you find yourself in a position of leadership or power, don’t let it go to your head – that is a weak leader in my opinion! If you want to become a strong leader – re-read the above article and put my tips into action!

Tags: leader, leadership, strong leader