7. Practice Positive Thinking

You must become a professional thinker; one who knows what it means to discipline your thoughts and use them to meet your needs and goals. You must learn to do it now. You can’t stop until the process is ingrained and becomes a part of your everyday life. Think new or positive thoughts that help you succeed constantly and meditate on them daily, repeating the process over and over until it becomes a part of your subconscious and you see the changes in your thinking.

You might not quite believe yourself at first because you are so accustomed to your negative thoughts guiding your decisions and life. If your thoughts are reasonable and encouraging, continue saying them to yourself, instead of anticipating disaster. Your more positive thoughts will pave the way for solutions you might have never considered before. By doing this, you can begin to convert your problems into opportunities.

Positive imagery can also influence your mind. If you know you respond to this, you should create a particular image with your positive thoughts to give them the weight they need to become permanent features in your mind. Perhaps a place you’ve visited, something you want to achieve, or an object that represents you being in control.

Practice this daily to begin to discipline your thoughts. When you allow the Poor Thoughts to creep in and violate your mind and run routes of disaster on your psyche, it’s mostly because you don’t believe you have the power to change your thoughts. In this case, you can often make yourself sick instead of making money. You dwell on the past because that is all you know. Besides what’s going on right now, it’s the only thing that is real to you. Your experiences are the sum result of things you’ve witnessed, heard, or learned. Sometimes your experiences have a way of staying with you, especially the negative. It’s up to you to build the habit of positive thinking.

I recently attended a boxing match that illustrated the fight you probably encounter daily in your mind. The underdog, who many had ruled out, was taking a beating unlike any that I had ever seen. He was pummeled by the powerful blows of the champion. The underdog was knocked down several times. His eyes were swollen shut, and it looked like it was over. I immediately equated this to what thoughts often do. They beat you up to the point that you feel like giving up. They make you feel like all possibility of winning is lost. You are knocked down by the events that seem to overcome you and strip any chance you have of succeeding. This is when it’s decision time.

The underdog had conditioned and prepared himself for this moment, something many of us neglect to do. After sitting in his corner and regaining his composure, the underdog came out swinging with a renewed sense of energy. I’m not sure what his corner man said to him in those brief moments, but whatever it was, it was just what he needed to realize the fight wasn’t over. After the bell rang, he seemed to draw on a renewed sense of faith and energy to back it up. It wasn’t long before the champion was down and out on the canvas with no hopes of getting up. The underdog had found a power deep down within himself that was the key element needed to turn his situation around to win the fight of his life. This is the power that all possess, but most choose not to tap into it.

This resembles the decision I was faced with. I had always thought I was a positive person, but when my life depended on it, I found myself making a decision to take the road most traveled and remain complacent. I was deciding that I couldn’t do more; I couldn’t be more. I was sabotaging my own destiny with thoughts that I had created, seen somewhere, or maybe even experienced in my past. These thoughts were becoming who I was only because I didn’t know how to discipline my thoughts. That is, until I became my own corner man and talked myself out of that.

Never say, “I can’t.” Just believe that you can and do your best. How will you know unless you push yourself? Constantly say things to yourself like, “I can,” “I will,” and “I believe in myself.” Another aspect is to play around with words that make you happy and instill confidence in you. Make sure that the words you use evoke power and a sense of achievement.

W.E.A.L.T.H. Thoughts start with self-talk. Self-talk is the constant flow of unspoken thoughts that run through your head every day. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk might come from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information. If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely negative or poor. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely a positive person or just practicing positive thinking.

Positive thinking is contagious.

When you are in the company of people who think positively, it spreads like a healthy virus, making you feel good about yourself. On the other hand, if you have even one friend who indulges in poor thinking, this will surely affect you in a negative way, spreading to you like a bad cold germ. So, your goal is to spend your valuable time with people who think and speak positively. Positive thinking is the key to success. By thinking in a positive way, you can maintain your focus and interest in your tasks and reach new heights.

The positive thinking that typically comes with being optimistic is a key to manage any stress you might encounter due to financial issues. If you tend to be negative, you can learn a lot from positive/W.E.A.L.T.H. thinking skills. W.E.A.L.T.H. thinking means that you approach the financial unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

As you get familiar with this process, you might find that it gets easier over time. There is no magic wand to take away negativity and problems in life, but you hold the key to the quality of your financial life, and negativity doesn’t have to be in charge. You might not want to save money, but instead just spend. You must visualize yourself going through the motions of saving the first couple of weeks. Just start putting funds away a little at a time. Taking these baby steps will set you up for your saving program rapidly. Then after a few weeks, just go for it. Now that you have your emotions geared toward jogging, it should spur you into action. By allowing the emotional momentum to build, you can create motivation that will help you accomplish things that make you happier.