Time management - Positive thinking
Positive thinking
General
In order to succeed at reaching any goal you must believe that you can achieve it.
If you want to be good at football it is not enough to just practice, although it will obviously help.
If you are constantly told your skills are poor you will be guaranteed to fail. You need good support and a positive attitude from yourself.
Positive mindset
If you take a penalty kick but have no idea where you are going to put it until you actually kick the ball the chances are you will be relying on a large dose of luck for success. If you visualise exactly where you are going to kick it you will be more likely to hit the right spot. This method some how manages to link with your subconscious and reinforces what you aim to do.
Without thinking about it just visualising the event seems to help your subconscious mind make choices that help you achieve it.
The very act of belief in success seems to remove that fear of failure that creates doubt, stresses and physical changes.
Attitudes and beliefs
Success at achieving goals is not necessarily down to your intelligence or particular skills.
We probably all know people that appear to be successful but may appear to be less intelligent or have fewer qualifications.
The correct attitude is often a strong driver for success together with other qualities like patience, innovation and perseverance.
We all have a basic character that we can disguise temporarily but will resurface in the end.
If you have a very negative view on life this will translate to any attempt to reach your goals.
If a major milestone is achieved it seems to motivate others to do the same.
When Roger Bannister completed the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds it opened the flood gates for many others to do so. The general fitness of athletes had not drastically changed. When a person wins a world title in a sport for one year only it is because all aspects of that persons game come together at one time and then miraculously disappears.
If you attend a social event and your mood is poor you will come away with a negative view but many others would have felt the same party great. Public speaking can be traumatic for some and yet on another occasion the same person may seem quite relaxed depending on how that person is affected by nerves.
When a person has a good result at a sport requiring particular skills, for example, golf, they may often be told ‘they are very lucky’.
Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘It’s funny, the more I practice the luckier I get!’.
Yes, practice will improve your skills. It will also improve your confidence.
The very best players can visualise a putt and don’t actually expect to miss whether it is 2 feet or 50 feet. It can come as a mild surprise when the putt misses which the player doesn’t worry about and just plays the next shot. They pre-visualise the activity and as such gain confidence and perform better.
They never worry about failure. ‘Get over it’ is a useful phrase to help focus on the next action.
Self belief
It is great to be very confident in your ability provided it doesn’t border on arrogance. Make sure you always boost your own confidence by telling yourself that you will succeed and can not fail. The point is to ‘not worry about failure’. Failure is a part of life, everybody fails. With the right frame of mind you will take positive experiences from your failures as a learning exercise.
Modifying attitudes
Whilst basic characters will always resurface you can change some preconceived ideas and feelings.
If you wish to encourage a particular train of thought then repeat it to yourself on a regular basis during the day.
The phrase you use must be one that you can easily picture in a positive manner as opposed to a negative approach.
For example, ‘I want to improve my footballing skills so I can keep the ball up 50 times’. Use this instead of ‘I don’t want to miss any more penalties this year’.
The latter emphasises failure rather than the positive increase in performance.
Don’t say ‘I won’t watch any more television’, say, ‘I will watch for 1 hour only at 6:00 pm as a special treat’.
If you are confident about your goals you may want to let others know especially your family. But, beware, those that know may give you negative feedback if their own attitude is poor and they may suggest you wont succeed.
Record the goals
Write down your goals to reinforce them and display them somewhere you (and not others) will see them and be constantly reminded.
Set dates and clarify the goals. This reduces any ‘fear of failure’ you may have. Be positive.
The road to success
Reaching your goal is all important but unless the techniques you use prove enjoyable it may end up as a fruitless journey.
Find challenging and fun ways to achieve individual steps on the way to your goals and get rid of any negative thinking.
This doesn’t mean that you should not plan for things going wrong, you should and generate necessary contingency plans.
Why not fine yourself for every negative comment that you utter.