{"id":6160,"date":"2011-05-04T20:29:39","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T04:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=6160"},"modified":"2013-09-10T07:11:46","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T15:11:46","slug":"the-case-for-being-negative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-case-for-being-negative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case for Being Negative"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019ve all heard it. \u201cBe positive\u201d they say. \u201cFocus on the good in life\u201d they explain.
\n\u201cThink, you could be in a much worse situation so you should be thankful for what you have\u201d they command. Well, screw that. I say, forget being positive…being negative has its own virtues.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I\u2019m not some weirdo who goes out of his way to find things to be negative about.. Nope, I\u2019m not going to tell you that you should be always pessimistic and pissed off with the world. But I am going to tell you that it is absolutely ridiculous to focus 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} on being positive in your life. Being super incredibly uber-positive is detrimental to your health (much like eating lead paint). You see, optimism is a good thing…but blind positivity will keep you from actually changing your life or making a meaningful impact to this world.<\/p>\n

Let me explain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The common thought is that being positive means being right, happy, and good. Why wouldn\u2019t it, right? Positivity = good. Negativity = bad. Isn\u2019t that obvious? Well, the short answer is \u201cno.\u201d There is an annoyingly long answer…but I don\u2019t like long answers…<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} focused on being positive, you miss room for growth. You see, every important thing that\u2019s ever been accomplished is because someone was pissed off or frustrated at something. They saw something that was wrong, or evil, or broken, or just annoying, and they found a way to \ufb01x it. Every person who\u2019s every quit an awful job, every person who\u2019s left an abusive relationship, and every person who\u2019s ever blocked \u201cGlee\u201d on their Direct TV so their wife wouldn\u2019t make them watch it were driven to do so because they were rightfully being negative. They didn\u2019t discount the negative in the world. They acknowledged it and worked to do something about it.<\/p>\n

In many cases that negativity is what will drive you to succeed and change your life. That burning sense of being unsatisfied with your current situation will often be what drives you do achieve.<\/p>\n

Negativity isn\u2019t necessarily pessimism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just because you acknowledge the crappy parts of life doesn\u2019t mean you need to be pessimistic about life. Nope, you should be optimistic, but it shouldn\u2019t be some sort of blind optimism. Don\u2019t tie your optimism to a vague sense of positive thought; instead, tie it to your plans, your goals, and your abilities. Be optimistic about your future because of what you will be doing to shape it. Be optimistic because you know that you\u2019ll be working your ass off to make it better.<\/p>\n

Your optimism should be your celebration of overcoming or improving the negative crap that you see around you. Give yourself your reason for optimism.<\/p>\n

Positive action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Great people attach their happiness to taking positive action and achieving real results. The act of moving forward is satisfying and a lack of process is unbearable. Those who are successful only feel like they are truly living if they are moving forward and that\u2019s why they achieve. It is out of that action that they become positive not some magical affirmation, mission statement, or force of will.<\/p>\n

To focus 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} on positivity, to try to trick your brain into thinking everything is great, is to prevent yourself from making an impact in your life and in the world. When you turn a blind eye to what\u2019s wrong in the world and what\u2019s wrong in your life, you\u2019ll never be able to do anything to \ufb01x it.<\/p>\n

So, let yourself be negative every once in a while…but when you do make sure to take real action to make it better.<\/p>\n

Please leave all your negative thoughts in the comment section below (but positive thoughts are also more than welcome!)<\/p>\n

Joey is an online business guy who loves talking about making actual accomplishments (not just theoretical personal development stuff).\u00a0 Check out his current project at http:\/\/findyourdamnpurpose.com<\/a>.\u00a0 If you want your life to change, but don\u2019t know how to get started, click to check out the 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} free video course on finding a useful purpose.<\/em><\/div>\n
(both links should drive to either findyourdamnpurpose.com<\/a> or findyourdamnpurpose.com\/short-course<\/a>)<\/em><\/div>\n

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\nDon’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Why You Shouldn’t Care What Others Think About You<\/a><\/p>\n

How To Choose The Right Goals For You<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard it. \u201cBe positive\u201d they say. \u201cFocus on the good in life\u201d they explain.
\n\u201cThink, you could be in a much worse situation so you should be thankful for what you have\u201d they command. Well, screw that. I say, forget being positive…being negative has its own virtues. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":6162,"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":[205,30,6],"tags":[63,595,66,4639,1373,430,4629,1372],"yoast_head":"\nThe Case for Being Negative - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard it. \u201cBe positive\u201d they say. \u201cFocus on the good in life\u201d they explain. \u201cThink, you could be in a much worse situation so you should be thankful for what you have\u201d they command. 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