I grew up in the ’70’s. I remember mood rings, 8-track tapes, disco, and…positive thinking. Positive thinking? Yes, positive thinking.

My mom filled my head with all kinds of sayings, like “turn your scars in to stars” and the like.

I have to say that to this day when I hear the phrase “positive thinking” I can’t help but remember the cheesy hairstyles and gaudy clothing from that decade.

I also remember some hellish times, particularly a nightmarish year in 7th grade. I lived on positive thinking to get me through.

In regards to keeping a positive outlook on things, I like to consider all thoughts as falling somewhere along a range:

Super, sickeningly sweet positive thinking on one extreme (you know, the kind that is devoid of any groundedness in reality whatsoever). Super, depressingly negative thinking on the other extreme (runs on auto-crabby, auto-futility, and auto-it’s the end of the world).

And then there’s everything in between.

In terms of thinking positively while facing setbacks, discouragement, disappointment, etc. on the way to success, I believe it’s good to fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

It takes practice for sure, especially when emotions are running high. John Maxwell says,

Success comes from going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

(The Maxwell Leadership Bible, p. 910)

If anything it’s an outlook, a determination that no matter what, you will move forward BECAUSE you believe in that dream, goal, destination, purpose, etc.

If you need a little help in this department, turn up the speakers on your computer, open up a new browser window, and copy and paste the following URL:

http://FirstName.YouAreMighty.com (replace “FirstName” with your actual first name).

Hit enter and enjoy what comes next!

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