Mr. Achievement - Stanley F. Bronstein - Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

Law #76

Position Yourself To Be Positive

People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong…Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom? (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Some Definitions

People - Persons indefinitely or collectively; persons in general. The entire body of persons who constitute a community, tribe, nation, or other group by virtue of a common culture, history, religion, or the like.

Deal - To occupy oneself in or itself with. To take action with respect to a thing or person. To be occupied or concerned about something or someone.

Too Much - More than necessary. To an excessive extent or degree; beyond what is desirable, fitting or right.

With - In some particular relation to.

Negative - Characterized by the absence of distinguishing or marked qualities or features; lacking positive attributes. The opposite of positive. Lacking in constructiveness, helpfulness, optimism, cooperativeness, or the like.

Wrong - Not proper or usual; not in accordance with requirements or recommended practice. Out of order; awry; amiss. Not suitable or appropriate.

Why - For what? for what reason, cause, or purpose? A question concerning the cause or reason for which something is done, achieved, etc..

Not - In no way; to no degree. Used to express negation, denial, refusal, or prohibition.

Try - To attempt to do or accomplish. To endeavor to evaluate by experiment or experience. To test the effect or result of.

See - To perceive. To perceive (things) mentally; discern; understand. To construct a mental image of; visualize.

Positive - Emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, or to the good; constructive. Showing or expressing approval or agreement; favorable. The opposite of negative.

Things - Anything that is or may become an object of thought. Matters; affairs. Some entity, object, or creature that may or may not be specifically designated or precisely described.

Just - Only or merely. By a narrow margin; barely.

Touch - To come into contact with and perceive (something). To come into or be in contact with. To attain equality with; compare with.

Those - Used to indicate a person, thing, idea, state, event, time, remark, etc., as pointed out or present, mentioned before, supposed to be understood, or by way of emphasis.

Make - To bring into existence. To produce; cause to exist or happen; bring about. To cause to be or become; render.

Bloom - A flourishing, healthy condition; the time or period of greatest beauty, artistry, etc.. To flourish or thrive.

Source: Dictionary.com

I Love This Quote

The reason I love this quote is that Thich Nhat Hanh is known for choosing his words carefully. While analyzing the quote, just about every word he used had so many different meanings, all of which could tie into the quote in different ways.

I love that. That is one of the reasons I admire Thich Nhat Hanh and I believe he is a genius.

For those of you who have already read the previous 75 postings on the Laws of Positioning, you’re already familiar with this concept. For those of you who are just jumping on the bandwagon now, that’s fine too.

One of the major focuses of the Laws of Positioning is focusing on the positive, instead of the negative.

That’s what this quote is all about.

Why, oh why, oh why, do we focus on the negative, not the positive. I’ve decided that I’m not going to ask that question.

Why am I not going to ask that question?

Because asking that question would be focusing on the negative!

Let’s forget about the question and focus on the answer.

The answer is to focus on the positive.

After all, we have to position ourselves to be positive !!!

Touching The Positive

As Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh suggests, all we have to do is “touch” the positive. Touch those things and make them bloom.

A Real Life Example

So I ask you, what is positive in your life? As I’m writing this, I’m sitting here “sweating” in my own house, because one of my two air conditioning units went out during the hot Arizona summer. I’m getting ready to spend several thousand dollars to replace all of my air conditioning units in my house with newer, more efficient, air conditioning units.

What should I be thinking about now?

1) I could be moaning and complaining that I’m sweating.

But, half of our house is cool and I’m choosing to spend time in the hot half, because that’s where my computer is.

2) I’m getting ready to have to spend a lot of money.

While it hurts, and while I’d prefer to not have to spend that money, fortunately I can afford it, AND based upon economic projections of how much it will save me in energy costs, these new units will pay for themselves in probably 5 years.

3) While I’m sweating, I’m having a good time and I have no problems.

Everything is great. I’m sitting in my own home with my wife and my dogs and we’re all doing just fine. We’re having a good time and we have little or no problems. Compared to what’s going on in most of the world, we have nothing to complain about (a fact I remind myself of every day).

4) I am focused, and I am working on achieving my life’s goal, which is to help others find their purpose in life and to achieve it.

What could be better than that? I’m sitting here helping people and at the same time, helping myself. Life is great.

While things aren’t perfect (oops I focused on the negative for a few seconds), things are pretty darn good. THAT SHOULD BE THE MAIN AREA OF MY FOCUS.

Positivity Has Power (but so does negativity)

By now, after having read the previous parts of this post, you should realize how much power there is in positivity.  BUT, NEGATIVITY HAS JUST AS MUCH POWER, IF NOT MORE !!!

But, just because negativity has power (maybe even more), it does not mean we should focus on it.

Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative !!! Your life will be better as a result.