How to Change your Life from Negative to Positive
One of the biggest challenges you might face is how to change your life from negative to positive. By that, it might mean the results you are getting in your life, but also your attitude to your life.
The Good News
It is difficult, but not impossible to change your life from positive to negative and in this chapter, I will show you how to start.
As with anything worthwhile, it is not an overnight thing. It is a process and you can begin to get some immediate results.
I fundamentally believe that anyone, no matter where they find themselves, can change their lives. You can do some very simple, but very important things every day. I will also reveal to you three secrets of suggestion that I learned in my Hypnotherapy training, which will help you to make long lasting change.
Firstly, though, it really starts with attitude.
Attitude
The Only Question to ask yourself, when beginning to change your life is – Can I change?
If you are reading this post because you are searching for the answer to this question, then you are already half way there. The fact that you are searching for the answer, means that you doubt that your current state is permanent.
You can change and you will change.
When first beginning the task of changing your life around, you will need to adopt new beliefs. I go into detail on how to change a belief in my book The Habits for Fat Loss
Here are some fundamental beliefs, which I have found useful.
My view of the world is not the world. Other people have different views of the world – and that is not the world either.
All my experience has a structure to it; therefore, I can hack into this to change my experience of something.
I just one person can do something, then anyone can do it.
The mind and the body are part of the same system.
People already have the resources they need, they just need help accessing them.
You are always communicating, even if you think you aren’t
Underlying all behaviour is a positive intent. Therefore, try to separate the behaviour from the person.
People are always making the best choices available to them
If what you are doing isn’t working out, do something else.
The quality of your life is only as good as the quality of your thoughts.
You don’t need to adopt the beliefs all in one go, just go one at a time. A tip for which one to internalise first, is the one that you really disagree with the most. Pick this one first.
The words you use
The second step to changing your life from negative to positive is to mind your language. I don’t mean cutting out the odd Industrial term here and there (I believe that these have a time and a place too). I mean the type of words you use, that force you into a negative state.
Outside influences
The next area for you to address are the outside influences, that are shaping your worldview. I talked about this back in the The Gateways to the Subconscious.
Doing this can have immediate effects on whether your life feels positive or negative. What you see, hear and read, absolutely effects your thinking. Have you ever listened to two people arguing and then felt argumentative after? Or what about if you hear someone laughing? You can’t help but smirk. We have an in built propensity to copy those we associate with. It’s perfectly natural and has helped human survival. But that doesn’t mean that you have to imbibe all the negativity the world has to offer, because you will. And just like the computer programming adage “Garbage in, garbage out”, the quality of your influences will shape the quality of your life.
TV/news/Media
I find Television very educating. Whenever someone turns on the set, I go into another room and read a book. – Groucho Marx
TV has a lot to answer for. As a qualified Hypnotherapist, I shudder at how this box in the corner of the room, can hypnotise people. From the advertisers, who use the power of suggestion to make you think you want their product, to the politicians who use fear to get you to vote for them, be very careful what you watch on this device. I will maybe devote a whole book to the dangers of TV, as there is not enough room here.
Start by questioning what you watch. Notice how you feel after watching a programme. Do you feel full of angst after watching a soap opera. Do you feel fearful after watching the news? Notice this. TV is doing this.
Print Media
Take an audit of your reading material. Is it positive or negative? Again, the proportion of this, will have a direct effect on how you view your own life. Does reading the magazine full of airbrushed models make you feel inadequate? Publishers design them to do so, so that you buy the products advertised in it.
You can easily assess whether what you read is wholesome or not by how you feel after. Do you feel uplifted after reading it? Optimistic?
Social media
Here is a tip for what to do if someone negative on social media is making you feel bad – delete them. Really, life is too short to read negative stuff. You don’t need to. I know it can be tempting, but it’s not doing you any favours. Ok, maybe deleting then is too harsh, why not just use the setting to hide them.
In defence of negative.
Now that we have gotten all negative on the negative, let’s just take a sense-check. Have you ever looked both ways, when crossing the road? Did you look again as you were crossing? Why so negative? Surely, the positive thing to do would be to blindly jump into the road and hope for the best. No? Course not?
Whilst moving your life from negative to positive, it’s crucial that you don’t become deluded. You should still take precautions and buy insurance. Are you going into a new business? Do your due diligence, test the market out.
Or what if you are starting a new exercise regime? Take care of yourself, the mind may be willing, but give your body time to adjust to new things.
When we talk about removing negatives, we are talking about all the unhealthy things that are holding you back.
As the old Arabian saying goes “Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel”.