When you are confronted with an obstacle in life, do you assume there are more to come and proceed on your way with your head down, dreading failure? When an irate customer takes out his or her frustration on you, do you let one person’s negativity transform your mood for the worse? When the “noes” outweigh the “yeses” in sales, do you carry the rejections with you into your next sales pitch? If you answered yes to these questions, you are not only in danger of stifling your innate potential, but you are at risk of never finding out of who you truly are or what you can become. It’s easy to let life’s challenges sap your energy, dissipate your motivation and give you a pessimistic outlook, but there is a way to to prevent difficult situations and negative thoughts from standing in your way of success and happiness. There is a way to unleash your true potential.
Related: 9 Ways to Say No to Negativity
I know this from personal experience. In high school, I was voted “Least Likely to Succeed,” and on top of that, I had a guidance counselor tell me that I wasn’t smart enough to go to college. I laugh about these things now, but it was those negative labels that fostered toxic beliefs, that in turn began to shape my general outlook and hold me back from success and happiness as an adult. Let me make this very clear: Nothing—absolutely nothing—will keep you from seeing your self-worth and experiencing your full potential more than toxic beliefs.
In the early stages of my adult life, I couldn’t understand why opportunity wasn’t knocking at my door. Looking back now, I realize that opportunity was knocking, but my fears and toxic belief system were preventing me from perceiving and taking action on it. It’s the same problem that I believe so many people face on a regular basis in business and life. I had the talent and potential to succeed, but I lacked the confidence to move forward. I didn’t believe in myself, and if you don’t believe in yourself, you’re not going anywhere but down.
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Life will often throw you curveballs. Sometimes it can seem like all your attempts to succeed are futile. Sales can fall through, relationships can falter and challenges can arise that will make the silver lining difficult to see. But all of this is OK as long as you have a solid foundation to return to and build on. This foundation that will carry you through the more turbulent times in life is a positive mentality focused on and grateful for the good elements in your life, and a commitment to enjoying yourself on the journey to achieving your goals.
Our brain has a negativity bias: We tend to pick up on the unpleasant, uninspiring elements in life more than the motivational, positive factors. That’s why it’s important to make an active effort to train your brain to think more positively in order to attain your goals. With the power of positive thinking by your side, every setback becomes another learning opportunity. What could have once brought you down can be used as a means of elevating yourself to do and be better. Pushing out the negativity and opening yourself up to gratitude and joy are significant steps toward fostering a positive mental attitude that is conducive to tapping into your hidden potential and thereby realize that there is a solution to every problem.
It is essential to be optimistic while also being practical. When setting out to change your life by enhancing your level of motivation and vigorously taking action on your dreams, acknowledge that you need to take baby steps. The process can be slow, and there can be many failures and obstacles to overcome, but the right mindset can push you through. If you spend time every day retraining your thought process, developing a real awareness of your thought patterns, both negative and positive, and consciously restructuring them so that your focus shifts to the good elements in your life, you will unleash your true potential. You will be able to tackle any amount of adversity, feel genuine joy and peace every day, and take steps toward achieving success with unfaltering confidence in yourself and your choices.
Photo by Sam Mgrdichian on Unsplash
