THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

By Nina Chen, Ph.D.
Human Development Specialist

Have you ever said “I just cannot do it” or “This is impossible to finish” or “I can never find a good job”?  What do you think about these self doubt and negative statements?  What would be the result of the negative statements? Actually, negative and self doubt thoughts can easily influence our attitudes and ability to accomplish a goal. 

People who have negative attitudes or self doubt usually have lower self-esteem. These attitudes can hurt people’s feelings and are barriers for success. If someone tells you “you are a bad person,” you might have doubt about yourself.  On the contrary, if someone says “you are a good person,” do you feel good about yourself? Clearly, positive thoughts can boost people’s learning and ways toward success. 

Try to say “I can do it” and then say “I cannot do it.” How do you feel about these two phrases?  The first one can make you feel stronger and more confident about what you can do.  But the second phrase lets you feel you are unsure and weak.  When you feel you can do it you usually try your best to do it. This is why you can succeed.  But if your mind tells you that you cannot do it, you may just try half of your effort to do it because you have already felt you cannot do it.

If you usually have negative thoughts, try to change your attitudes in a positive way. For instance, you can write down the following phrase “No Matter What You Do and Say to Me, I Am A Worthwhile Person” on a sheet of paper and put it where you will see it everyday.  That will help you start to build your positive thinking.  Every morning when you wake up, recall a success you had.  Catch people and yourself doing something good everyday. Try to visualize positive outcomes or what you want to accomplish, then take action.  You can write down your specific positive outcomes and see what you write everyday which can encourage you to take action and accomplish your goals.

##############