A positive attitude can help in creating success

I’ve always tried living my life with the attitude “If you say you can’t, you won’t.” Remaining positive and hopeful even in difficult circumstances is a powerful tool, but sadly, it’s not something people use very much.
Hearing negativity and “I can’t” or “I won’t” strikes a nerve in me because, a lot of times, a negative attitude will breed negative results. Going into something being positive, or at the very least having a neutral attitude, makes it more likely to have a better outcome.
It’s not uncommon to hear “I’m going to fail this” before a test or “We’re going to lose, we have no chance” before an athletic event. Saying things like this creates an idea of what will happen in your mind before it even begins. You hear it all the time, and once you start noticing it, you hear these phrases even more.
Even when we’re successful, we can ignore the good things we’ve done and instead focus on what we did wrong and what needs to be improved to be even better. While this is important to do in order to grow, people can completely ignore the good things they’ve done and wish they did more.
As a close-to-home example, the article I wrote about The Burton being put up for sale was one of my favorite things I’ve written in my time with The Bona Venture. I talked to some awesome people and learned about what the bar meant to the owner, employees, alumni and students. Overall, it was a great article.
That is, until one of my friends pointed out I said Piano Man is by Phil Collins, when it’s actually by Billy Joel. I immediately ignored the other great 1,400 words I’d written and was upset with myself for making that mistake.
We’re way too negative as a culture, and it has got to change. But how?
When something good happens, take the time to relish in that. When something not so good happens, don’t let it tear you down. On my team, we have a 24-hour rule; whether you had a good or bad race, take a day to be happy or upset, and then refocus on your next goal.
It can also be helpful to find the silver lining in your failures or figure out what to change for the next time. Too often, people are unhappy with the results of something but don’t learn anything from that failure. If you got a bad grade on a test, consider your study techniques or go to the professor for help before the next one.
Being positive and having unachievable expectations is not the same thing. Sometimes, an outcome is pretty much known going into it. That doesn’t mean you should go in overly confident or with a defeatist attitude.
Another helpful tool can be visualization. Thinking about what you want to happen so you have an idea and a plan going in can be advantageous before a job interview or a big game.
A lot can be done in your own life to combat the negative attitudes that are far too present in society. It’s up to you to remain positive through tough times and good things will hopefully begin to happen more often than bad things. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”