Before I changed my own negative attitudes, I was anything but a success—financially or otherwise. It took a 180-degree turn on my part before I changed the course of my life. I was flat broke, deeply in debt, afraid of the future and shamed before my family because of financial reverses. Then one day my wife said to me, “Joe, stop wiping your shoes on yourself! To me you’re the most important guy in the world and I won’t have it.’’ She forced me to do some thinking. It was her way of putting a “turn around” sign in front of me. I tried to take a new look at myself from every angle, trying to see myself again as number one and not low man on the totem pole.
Only a 180- degree turn heads you completely in the opposite direction of your negativism and defeatism. Just as it is necessary when your car is stuck in mud or sand, or your wheels are spinning on ice and snow, to back up slowly in order to get a fresh start forward, so too must we reverse a wrong course from time to time in order to go forward. That’s what I did and I went from failure to success. If you have been negative, it’s time as the song goes to “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.” If you’re down in the dumps, turn around and climb out.
Just how do you take a “180”? It’s a mental action, of course, but I’ve always found it helpful to link mental actions to physical ones. Some years before I was born, a positive thinker put forth a theory that shortly became popular. His name was Emile-Coue. He was a French doctor and his theory was first put to the test by his patients. His idea was think it and you’ll be it. It was as simple as that. Each day—each 1,440 minutes—was a new day to think yourself into a new you. Think power is powerful stuff, and one of the secrets of developing positive attitudes, of selling yourself more successfully, lies in using that power to the highest degree. You can fill your head with discouragement by thinking negative thoughts, or you can change your whole attitude about yourself and others by thinking positive thoughts.
How do you use think power? By exercising it. Like any physical exercise designed to develop a muscle, these mental exercises must be done daily. Make this your mental “daily dozen” every morning.
The Think Power Daily Dozen
- Think of yourself as successful.
- Think of yourself as loving.
- Think of yourself as attractive.
- Think of yourself as friendly.
- Think of yourself as helpful.
- Think of yourself as generous.
- Think of yourself as in control.
- Think of yourself as strong.
- Think of yourself as courageous.
- Think of yourself as optimistic.
- Think of yourself as affluent.
- Think of yourself as having peace of mind.
Take each think power exercise one at time. Don’t rush and choose a place where you can be alone without distractions. You will be using your conscious mind to tell your subconscious to take over. After a few weeks of this stimulating exercise, each powerful thought will be deep in your consciousness, always there to guide you. The first step in becoming successful is to think of yourself as successful. Make up your mind now that from here on you are going to paint mental pictures of yourself that are successful, attractive, positive, the world’s number-one product. Then, use your think power every time you’re out to sell others on you.
