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About That Positive Mindset…

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istock_000013311579xsmallI’m sure you’ve heard of the power of positive thinking or the Law of Attraction by now.

But if you’ve somehow escaped the daytime talk shows, multitude of online articles, and your friends’ comments about the subject, the idea in a nutshell is that your thoughts determine your circumstances. In other words, you attract positive or negative situations into your life by the way you think about things. It’s along the same lines of these familiar adages: You reap what you sow. Be careful what you wish for because you may just get it. What goes around comes around.

Do you remember the craze around The Secret a few years back? What a load of nonsense. Did you really believe you could sit on the couch watching TV and simply think your way to a fabulous reality? I mean seriously, how could that advance your career? You and I know that only hard work and determination create long-term career success and opportunities.

While many career oriented women don’t dismiss the idea that our thoughts can affect outcomes, it’s sometimes hard to swallow that our present life is a direct result of our thoughts—especially if we are not yet where we want to be. Building a career takes time. But if our thoughts can contribute anything at all to our realities, then isn’t it worth paying close attention to what we tell ourselves?

If you own a business, you believe your products or services are needed. If you work for someone else, your employer is purchasing your contributions, ideas, and expertise. You don’t think twice whether you are needed as an employee because, like a business owner, you have something of value to offer.

The importance of a positive mindset comes into play when we consider the value of our skills or our products or services. Yet, it seems to be difficult for many of us to identify our own personal value proposition and talk with ease and confidence about the real dollar value associated with what we personally offer. Women especially struggle with determining their worth and communicating it clearly and fearlessly.

Why is it that verbalizing our value to others can be pure torture? Why is it so difficult to ask with confidence for that promotion/raise/hot job/ or the next big opportunity? Why don’t others simply see our worth and volunteer to compensate us accordingly?

While that would be great that’s not how business works. It is up to us to tell and sell.

Before I share with you my personal tips that propelled me from $135,000 in debt to becoming a multi-millionaire, here is something that may help you wrap your head around how thoughts affect outcomes. I find it fascinating how quantum physics relates to Law of Attraction and the power of positive thinking. It is all about how energy influences everything around us. Here’s a YouTube video that will shed some light on creating our perfect lives and attracting abundance. There was also a wonderful experiment where researchers focused energy into water then studies the crystalline structures of frozen droplets. They discovered good vibes created the most beautiful crystals and bad vibes created formless blobs. You can find the astonishing results here.

Now let’s translate that into our everyday world. Have you ever had a bad morning that snowballed into a bad day? From the bank teller who miscounted your withdrawal, to the grumpy grocery store clerk, to your dog barking all night long for seemingly no reason… Conflict all day long. In comparison, have you ever had that day when you woke up feeling on top of the world and good things kept coming your way from morning through night? In essence, each of these examples illustrates the principle. The mindset that exudes happiness and confidence from within is completely irresistible and attracts success.

But what if we are not in a good place emotionally and we can’t stop our mind from pulling us into the abyss of our own negative thinking?

Personally, I got myself out of my downward spiral by searching for statements that I could truly believe in. During what I call it the decade of disaster for a reason I refused to believe I would be a failure and have to declare bankruptcy. My first thought was, “This can’t be all there is for me.” The entire story can be found in my book, Happy Woman Happy World.

That little adjustment to my thoughts is what helped me get from bad to great. At the time, I couldn’t believe I was going to be making millions, but I did believe that declaring bankruptcy would not be the end of my story.

If you want a six-figure income, you’ll never get there if you don’t truly believe you are worth it. And it’s the connection between wanting it and believing it’s possible that can make all the difference. You’ll never close the gap between those two points with a negative mindset.

What is a thought in which you can truly believe? “I am making an impact.” “I will change the world.” “I am creating a better future for my children.” “I am able to operate at a much, much larger scale.” These thoughts are the first steps to a positive mindset.

Be careful to avoid turning these thoughts into their negative opposites. “I am not making the impact I should.” “How could someone like me change the world?” “I am trying to do my best.” “Why don’t they see how good I am?” Practice switching negative statements into positive ones.

Beginning today, I ask you to pay close attention to the way you think. Success will still take hard work, determination, and time. But with a positive mindset, your energy will be flowing in the right direction propelling you forward. Please do let me know how this is going for you—I’d love to hear your story of success!

By Beate Chelette