At times like this, though I’ve never actually experienced ‘times like this’ in my entire lifetime, it’s really important to be extra vigilant about who you hang around with.
The brilliant motivational speaker Jim Rohn famously said that “we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with…” So, it makes sense to ensure that we’re spending our time in the company of folk who ADD VALUE and help us to be POSITIVE and FOCUSED and in CONTROL during this time of intense and immense challenge and change, right?
George Carlin also told us to never under-estimate the power of stupid people hanging out together in large groups, because as we know, behaviour breeds behaviour and attitudes are totally contagious! Boy, how that has proved to be true these last few weeks, with the hoards of people hanging out together in one large group on social media, spreading fear and anxiety and doom and gloom to all those foolish enough to listen to them!
But how do you protect yourself from these BMWs (these Blamers, Moaners & Whingers)?
How do we ensure our thoughts are not pervaded by those naysayers and antagonists?
Can we ever fully immunise ourselves from the ‘stupid people’ who gather in their masses through fear and dread, simply to make themselves feel better and not so alone at this difficult time?
How can our attitudes and behaviours NOT be affected by the mass media and newsreaders, whose job it is to fill our heads and hearts with negativity and pessimism right now?
Well it’s back to what I’ve been banging on about these last few weeks….
We must FOCUS on what we CAN control, not FESTER on what we CAN’T!
One thing we know for sure is that we absolutely CAN control our THOUGHTS.
And everything begins with a THOUGHT.
Our THOUGHTS drive our FEELINGS…
… which drives our BEHAVIOUR…
… which drives our ACTIONS…
… which impacts our RESULTS
It’s no more complicated than that – our EXTERNAL WORLD is a DIRECT reflection of our INTERNAL WORLD. Attitudes therefore, are an inside job!
So, how do we keep our attitude in check and remain positive in our thinking at this unprecedented time of huge challenge, where the Corona Virus appears to be still spiralling out of control and we don’t know what’s likely to happen next? Well one thing we do know for sure is that with a negative mental attitude, we can’t fail to fail but with a positive mental attitude we can’t fail to succeed!
Two important factors are at play here – we need to keep things in PERSPECTIVE and we need to develop RESILIENCE. Perspective is all about how we perceive things to be – and you know what they say in the world of NLP: Perception is Projection. If you’re perceiving things to be all negative and woeful, then that’s exactly what you’ll project to the external world.
You get what you focus on remember!
Developing resilience on the other hand, is a more external force – it’s the amount of energy you drum up and fill your inner battery with. When you have more energy, you’re more resilient. You have a greater capacity, both physically and mentally, to be more in control of your thoughts and feelings and emotions. You don’t have a definitive or finite amount of resilience in your battery – just like you don’t have a definitive or finite amount of energy in your tank, because YOU choose how much or how little you’ll put into it.
You choose where your focus goes, because as we know – our energy flows to where our attention goes!
So, ensure your attention is focused on all those things that lift you up, create momentum, spur you on and drive you forward today. That way, you’ll ensure you keep things in PERSPECTIVE and develop RESILIENCE.
Don’t dwell on those things, or people or events that drag you down, pull you backwards or fill your head with negative thoughts – because as Earl Nightingale taught us, “we become what we think about”
YOU choose how you’ll THINK today, so choose wisely – choose to THINK POSITIVE today!
Until next time – stay safe, stay sane and stay FIT!
