6 Key Traits #4: Positive Thinker
6 Key Traits of the Financially Independent
#4: Positive Thinker
You can sit in front of a mirror every morning reciting positive affirmations if you wish. You might even convince the guy on the other side of the mirror. It won’t make any difference to your success or failure on the road toward financial independence though. You have to develop an internal belief system that empowers you to achieve your goals and gives you the self-confidence to take the appropriate action.
If your inner-self doesn’t believe you are going to make it then you won’t. I used to keep a little plaque on my desk with a quote from Walter D. Wintle that read:
If you think you are beaten you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can
You can be every bit as successful as almost anybody you choose. The difference between those who succeed and those who fail begins with self-confidence. The world has many folk heroes who started with nothing and built a fortune for themselves using nothing but a solid and unshakeable determination to succeed.
Many experts believe that we are programmed to fail from early childhood. The thought patterns and belief systems that determine our destiny are deeply ingrained in our psyche from childhood. We are programmed to conform, to obey rules. These are behaviours that will severely impair our ability to successfully become financially independent later. In order to win we have to break out of that very limited mentality and make our mark in the world. That often means breaking the rules.
Fortunately, there are techniques to override early childhood behaviour training. It is worthwhile investigating them and, perhaps, taking some motivational courses. Our minds are like sponges that soak up ideas and external stimuli. If we expose our minds to new ideas we can overwrite self-limiting old ideas.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said:
Man’s mind, stretched by a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions
But, of course, positive thinking alone will not guarantee a positive outcome for a business or investment venture. On the other hand, negative thinking will almost certainly guarantee a bad outcome for the same venture. “If you think you are beaten you are..”
Always go through life looking for new ideas. Never stop learning. Weigh the possibilities of using each new idea to serve your own purpose. Try to anticipate the highest and most profitable way of using the new idea; develop a plan to do it. Don’t sleep on it. Tomorrow will bring its own new ideas. Act now. Think positive, act positive.
One of the most interesting ideas I ever learned was that if we deeply believe something to be true, our minds will only be receptive to evidence that supports that belief. If we focus our minds on the worst outcome of a venture, our minds will be closed to ideas that could change the outcome for the better. On the other hand, if we focus only on the best outcome of a venture we greatly enhance the probability of finding opportunities that will lead to the desired result. It is magic. Try it.
