{"id":13610,"date":"2013-04-14T20:52:50","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T04:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=13610"},"modified":"2013-04-14T20:52:50","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T04:52:50","slug":"the-power-of-negative-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-power-of-negative-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Negative Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Zig Ziglar, one of the most well-known motivational speakers of all time, passed away last year at the age of 86.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure how I stumbled upon Ziglar\u2019s work, but back in the late 1980s I recall listening to him on audio cassette in my car. Mostly, I would listen on long drives, and most of those drives were on weekends, with my wife, Marcie, in the car. If I was driving, which was most of the time, I would ask Marcie to make a note for me when I heard something that I particularly liked.<\/p>\n

When Ziglar died, the obituary that I read was headlined, \u201cZig Ziglar, a speaker who pushed power of positive thinking.\u201d Ironically, the time that I spent in my car back on those days was a time that I practiced what I now call \u201cThe Power of Negative Thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Power of Positive Thinking\u201d is a widely known term. It likely became part of the vernacular in the 1950s after the publication of the book by that name. (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale\u2019s The Power of Positive Thinking<\/i> is one of the best-selling books of all time\u2014and one that I recommend.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Power of Negative Thinking\u201d is a less widely known concept. In fact, I haven\u2019t heard anyone talk about it at all. Yet, it\u2019s an incredibly important concept to understand for your happiness, and the happiness of everyone in your life.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go back to my early driving days in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

I grew up in the New York City area, and while people in many areas claim to live in the most stressful places to drive, many would agree that New York is pretty high on the list. I won\u2019t say it\u2019s the worst though. After all, it was in Los Angeles that the term \u201croad rage\u201d was coined after a rash of shootings occurred on the LA freeways in the late 80s.<\/p>\n

Around that time, Marcie urged me to change my own driving behavior. I wasn\u2019t a particularly aggressive driver, but I was susceptible to some of the \u201croad rage\u201d behaviors\u2014rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner. Wikipedia points out, and Marcie often similarly said, \u201cRoad rage can lead to altercations, assaults, and collisions which result in injuries and even deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does this have to do with \u201cThe Power of Negative Thinking\u201d?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that you see someone driving in an unsafe, aggressive manner on the freeway. Whether or not they cut you off or do something else dangerous to you, what might your reaction be? If it\u2019s anger, that\u2019s normal. Anger is an emotion that we all experience.<\/p>\n

The key question is, what do you do next? If you exhibit road rage, my recommendation is the same one that Marcie gave to me. Cut it out. Stop doing that. No good can come of it.<\/p>\n

If you do not engage in road rage, as the dangerous driver speeds away, do you let your angry thoughts speed away with him? Or do you keep thinking about him?<\/p>\n

If you keep thinking about him, how long do you do that? Five minutes? A half hour? An hour? Do you go to work and tell your co-workers about the \u201cjerk\u201d who cut you off on the freeway? Do you go home and tell your family?<\/p>\n

Or, do you let it go?<\/p>\n

If you keep thinking about the incident long after it happened, you\u2019re experiencing the power of negative thinking.<\/p>\n

Think about it. It\u2019s your thoughts about the driver that fuel how you feel. If you are at all like I was, take my word for it. It\u2019s much better to just let it go.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used driving as my example because it\u2019s a good example, and common to most of us\u2014all drivers have had difficult experiences on the road.<\/p>\n

Life is better when you let go of negative thoughts in every area of your life. Pick one area of your life where you have negative thoughts\u2014whether it\u2019s driving or anything else\u2014and focus on \u201cletting it go.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s driving, when you go to work, tell people about the poor driver who cut you off and how great you feel because you let it go. You didn\u2019t gesture at them. You didn\u2019t yell at them. You didn\u2019t chase them down. And you didn\u2019t keep thinking about them after they sped away. You just let it go, and it felt good to do so.<\/p>\n

Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it to help make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

What are some of your experiences with negative thinking? Where are some areas where you can focus on letting it go? Join the conversation with your comments\u2026<\/p>\n

David J. Singer is the author of <\/i>Six Simple Rules for a Better Life<\/i><\/a> and blogs <\/em>at <\/i>www.SixSimpleRules.com<\/i><\/a>. You can like him on Facebook at <\/i>http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SixSimpleRules<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Power of Negative Thinking\u201d is a less widely known concept. In fact, I haven\u2019t heard anyone talk about it at all. Yet, it\u2019s an incredibly important concept to understand for your happiness, and the happiness of everyone in your life. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":13613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[2185,66,257,4629,4640],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Negative Thinking - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThe Power of Negative Thinking\u201d is a less widely known concept. In fact, I haven\u2019t heard anyone talk about it at all. 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