Lately I've become alarmed at the negative level of my thinking at times with respect to my work which can then spill over into my personal life. I've been wondering how I can more consistently harness all the latent energy in the pressure to deliver within the constraints of limited resources, tight deadlines and even tighter budgets and convert that to more positive thinking.

I know the value of positive thinking and the resultant self-reinforcing confidence. It leads to greater achievement, productivity and happiness. And yet negative thinking can so easily overwhelm us when the deck seems stacked against us.

I was pondering this question when I remembered a post from Seth Godin called The Problem with Positive Thinking. Here's part of it:

“All the evidence I've seen shows that positive thinking and confidence improves performance. In anything. ... Key question then: why do smart people engage in negative thinking? Are they actually stupid? ... Negative thinking protects us and lowers expectations. ... If positive thinking was easy, we'd do it all the time. Compounding this difficulty is our belief that the easy thing (negative thinking) is actually appropriate, it actually works for us. The data is irrelevant. We're the exception, so we say. Positive thinking is hard. Worth it, though.“ (Seth Godin, September 2009)

Tomorrow, I will actively think more positively. I will lay aside negative thoughts and entertain only the positive. I will convert and harness the energy of the pressure to deliver and channel that energy into positive, productive valuable thinking. Wish me luck!