The Marketers’ Senate

Most of us love to think that our problems are the result of the
actions or in-actions of others, economic conditions, timing and
any number of other things outside our control. These things do
in fact have a bearing on our situations. They are not however,
the root cause. The real problem lies within!

Now that’s not something most of us want to hear. It’s much
easier if we have an excuse or two for the situation, isn’t it?
Unfortunately while there are always excuses, they seldom help.

Our real enemies are those negative thoughts that creep into our
minds unchallenged and hide in the corners, waiting to jump out
at us again and again whenever some obstacle appears. We don’t
want to deal with them so we brood a bit and let them slip by
without questioning their validity. Unchallenged they gain
strength!

What kind of thoughts are we talking about? It’s usually stuff
like: maybe I’m not capable of doing this; maybe I have reached
my level of incompetence in this job; perhaps I just don’t know
as much as I thought I did; they are just plain better than me;
I never get a fair shot at things; I just don’t have enough
resources to do the job. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

In my opinion, the worst thing we can do is let thoughts like
these slip by unchallenged. Each one, as it occurs, needs to be
examined and dealt with. We need to tear them apart and look at
them in detail. We need to figure out where they came from and
send them right back!

Right about now you are probably thinking that this is just
smoke and mirrors. Am I right? Well, I would like you to
consider that there might be some substance to this idea. Why
not? If you give substance to the idea that - you are not good
enough, why not give substance to the idea that - thoughts cause
results.

Here is a quote that has always struck me as being very
empowering. It is from a book called ‘The Miracle of Right
Thought‘ by James Allen.

“Whatever comes to us in life we create first in our mentality”

If you think about that statement, I’m sure you will begin to
see it as a truism. If you think positive thoughts and focus
yourself on something you want, very often you achieve it.
Conversely, if you sit around focusing on the things you don’t
want to happen they tend to gain momentum. There is a real
simple reason for this. If you are focusing on the things you
don’t want, you are not focusing on the things you do want.

Now, let’s go back to the idea that the negative thoughts you
let slip by unchallenged are your worst enemies. Think about
this for a minute. If people tell you that you are stupid enough
times, you begin to doubt yourself, don’t you? Well what do you
think happens when you yourself think you are stupid? It carries
a lot more weight in your mind because you believe it. If you
believe it, what kind of an impact is that going to have on how
you feel about your ability to accomplish things? How long will
it be before you stop trying, some, then many things because you
believe you can’t accomplish them; because you are stupid?

Every negative thought that enters your mind should be carefully
examined and dealt with. We must turn these thoughts around,
upside-down and backwards and look at them from all angles. We
must consciously decide what credence to give them and then deal
with the things that need action. If we do not do this and
simply let the thought slide by, then when it occurs again it is
stronger. We all know that repetition is how we learn. If a
thought keeps repeating itself it begins to become true. If it
repeats itself enough times it becomes a fact. Even worse, once
it becomes a fact it becomes an excuse. What good did an excuse
ever do you?

I started this article out fairly negatively on purpose. Now
let’s turn that around. If an unchallenged negative thought
gains power and becomes an insidious, destroyer of confidence,
then can a positive thought not become the reverse? If we
challenge our negative thoughts and do not give them credence
and power, we neutralize them. Then if we take our positive
thoughts and allow them to flourish, they will gain credence.
This an empowering thought?

If you are anything like me, when negative thoughts pop into my
mind I start to feel depressed, dark and heavy, but when good,
empowering thoughts occur, I feel great! It lifts a weight off
my shoulders and brightens up my day. Guess which one is more
productive? Guess which one helps me accomplish things? I am
smiling right now just thinking about the power of these
positive thoughts.

All of us let some of these negative thoughts slide by and hide
in our heads. We will likely never catch them all, but what if
we caught more of them each day just by being aware of the
damage they can cause. Like anything else, practice makes
perfect! Let’s practice grabbing those negative thoughts and
dealing with them on the spot. I bet you will find that
debunking one of them not only eliminates it’s power over you
but it gives you a positive win that brightens your day,
empowers you and maybe even puts a smile on your face.