Trnsformational Income: Be Positive

It’s an old joke, but it’s not very funny: A person is expressing doubts about his or her ability to achieve his goals. A friend seeks to encourage him by saying, “Oh, come on! You have to think positive.” To which the person responds, “Okay, I’m positive I can’t do it!”

Strong Poisonr
Mystery writer Dorothy Sayers once wrote an intricate murder mystery in which the murderer killed his cousin in order to prevent his embezzlement and subsequent loss of a great-aunt’s money from being revealed.

Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayers’ aristocratic amateur detective, was determined to prove the innocence – and to marry – Harriet Vane, a former love
of the murdered man.

He accomplished this (the proof of innocence, though not the marriage) by proving that the murderous cousin had laced an omelet with arsenic, then shared it with his victim. The murderer was able to survive the poisonous fare because he had built up an immunity to the poison over time by ingesting small, non-lethal doses of arsenic.

I mention this because we have a similar situation playing out in our world at large. Oh, the poison is not arsenic and it is not leaving bodies lying about with their faces twisted in their death agonies.

Napoleon Hill, in his classic Think and Grow Rich, says,

“It is so subtle that its presence often is not detected. This affliction cannot properly be classed as a fear. It is more deeply seated and more often fatal than all of the Six Basic Fears. For want of a better name, let us call this evil Susceptibility to Negative Influences.”

The poison at work in our society is negativity. Those who are feeding it to the rest of us have built up an immunity by ingesting it in small quantities all of their lives.

Those of us who have not built up that immunity are finding that we are being poisoned. What is dying as a result of that poison is our ability – even our desire – to think for ourselves, to have faith in ourselves, our governments, and even God, our ambitions, and our hopes and dreams.

If you think that I am being – pardon the unintended pun – overly negative in making this claim, consider what Hill has to say further:

“If you are reading this philosophy for the purpose of accumulating riches, you should examine yourself very carefully to determine whether you are Susceptible to Negative Influences. If you neglect this self-analysis, you will forfeit your right to attain the object of your Desires.”

How To Protect Yourself Against Negative Influencesr
Hill doesn’t mince words. In order to protective ourselves against negative influences – whether of our own making (doubt, anxiety, low self-esteem, sheer laziness) or the result of the poisonous influences of others, we must realize several things:

that we have Willpower and must use it

that we, as a species, tend to be lazy, indifferent and susceptible to all suggestions which harmonize with our weaknesses

that we are susceptible to all the six basic fears and that we must set up habits to counteract those fears

that negative influences often work on us through our Subconscious Mind
that these negative influences are often difficult to detect precisely because they are subconscious

that we must keep our minds closed against all people who seek to depress or discourage us in any way

that we should clean out our medicine chest, throw away all pill bottles, and stop self-medicating

that we must deliberately seek the company of people who encourage us to THINK AND ACT FOR OURSELVES

that we must not fall into the trap of expecting trouble because troubles have a tendency not to disappoint

that we must surround ourselves with positive role models

that we must immerse ourselves in positive thoughts and take positive action

that we must re-train ourselves to think positively and to expect good things to happen because most often when we expect good things to happen, they do

and then we must take appropriate steps to make those good things happe

Remember, you have absolute control over only one thing: your own thoughts. Controlling your thoughts is the result of self-discipline and habit.

The most practical, and positive, of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a burning desire expressed in a definite purpose backed by a definite plan.

Plan for your success.

And, yes, think positive – you positively CAN do it.

P.S. For those of you who are not Dorothy Sayers fans, Lord Peter Wimsey did finally succeed in marrying Harriet Vane though it took a great deal of burning desire, planning, and persistence – and several books – before he was able to accomplish that goal. ;-)