By Doug Winnie
Our thoughts are pretty much all we have. We are probably better at letting others control our thoughts instead of controlling them ourselves. Isn’t that an interesting thought!
Think about the TV you may watch on a daily basis. Just this morning, I was talking with a fellow networking buddy and he told me about his morning ritual which included watching at least 30-minutes of Fox News, every morning. What do you think? Does watching Fox News help you create your own thoughts or help you formulate thoughts related to whatever is on that news program?
Let’s consider your big sales presentation coming up in a few hours. Your morning ritual informs you that the economy is bad, the housing market it bad, that taxes are going up and that school care is getting worse. You also learn about the large car accident on the freeway and that an auto-manufacturer is recalling 110,000 vehicles because the engine light flashes accidentally in some models. Maybe you are lucky enough to hear how the weather will be stellar over the next few days. Then the forecaster says something like, “Great weather today. Too bad most of us will be at work and won’t get to enjoy it. Have a great day anyway!”
Now, all these negative thoughts have been placed in your mind. You can ignore them and some people think they are good at that, while others admit ignoring the negative is really very hard.
If attitude is everything (as many great sports coaches have claimed for many decades), and controlling your attitude is key to have a great attitude, then why do we allow such negative thoughts into our minds? The answer is pretty interesting. We do it because we are human and we actually want to be aware of all the threats out there. Our mind is constantly searching for threats to protect us from. We look for it, seek it out even, and then work to protect ourselves. We still stop and look at the freeway accident, we still are drawn to the death and destruction on the planet, and unfortunately, we are all drawn to the negative drama that occurs every moment of every day.
Back to your sales presentation this morning, if you’ve absorbed all the negative things going on in the world and your mind is working hard to protect you from it, are you better or worse off because of the information? You are definitely worse off. You see, your sales presentation will be tainted because of your tendency to focus some of your attention on the negative. You may even talk about it with your colleagues before the meeting or even to your clients during the presentation.
Jim Rohn calls this “stinking thinking.” We should avoid it at all cost. “Avoid it” is exactly what I do. I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the newspaper, and I don’t listen to the “stinking thinking” which is out there in the world. I instead listen to good sales CDs, good motivational talks, and great business leaders talking about how they’ve gone from “Good to Great” (Jim Collins).
What has been the result of avoiding all this negative input? Great question!! Well, in the three years since I’ve joined the ActionCOACH community, I’ve gone from being at the bottom of the rankings to the top. I’ve gone from no awards to the most prestigious award. I’ve helped my clients think positively as often as they can, and they’ve won awards, too! Most importantly, they’ve grown their businesses!
So, how do we not put those negative thoughts in our mind? First step is to realize they don’t have to stay. You don’t have to keep a thought. “What?” you might have just said to yourself. It’s true, every thought you have can be tossed away. It is a wonderful skill we can all have. I’ve been working with my “Thought Coach” for over three years now, and it is amazing how quickly I can throw away a negative thought. You can check out what and how she does it by reviewing her website: http://vqprofile.com/sbt1
The bottom line is you can indeed throw away a thought. For example, say someone cuts you off on the freeway during your commute to work. Your first thought may be, “That SOB!” Then you say to yourself, “I don’t want to keep that thought.” So you ask yourself, what is my next thought? Your next thought may be, “How dare he cut me off.” You again say to yourself, “Throw that away. What is my next thought?” You do this conscious thought pattern until you get a thought you want to keep. For example, “He probably didn’t see me. He may even be elderly and can’t see me at all.” Now that last thought you decide to keep and your drive continues unhampered and grief-free.
It is an interesting reality when it comes to thoughts. Your job is to pay close attention to what you allow to enter your thoughts. Then decide what to keep. If you do this for 30 days, you’ll begin to create great habits to have positive thoughts resulting in a happy life and probably a more successful one, as well.
Remember to check out http://vqprofile.com/sbt1 and do their free assessment – it will be a nice eye opener for you.
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Doug Winnie/ActionCOACH can be reached at 713-936-3814 or via email at
