Norman Vincent Book Positive Imaging (The Powerful Way To Change Your Life ) Everything you need to Know

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Change Your Life

If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy

expectations , you put yourself into a condition

conductive to your goals.

-      Norman Vincent peale

 

The way you think and feel about yourself , including your beliefs and expectation about what is possible for you , determines everything you do and everything that happens to you. When you change the quality of your thinking , you change the quality of life, sometimes instantly.

⮚       Positive thinking

Positive thoughts are life enhancing. They empower you and make you feel stronger and more confident. Positive thinking is not just a motivational idea. It has measureable, constructive effects on your personality, your health, your levels of energy, and your creativity. The more positive and optimistic you are, the happier you will be in every area of your life.

⮚       Starve your negative emotions

Your negative emotions have all been learned, beginning in childhood. And what has been learned can be unlearned, sometime quite quickly. You can learn any habit or skill that you consider to be either desirable or necessary. Especially, you can learn positive, constructive ways of thinking about people, money, health, and other factors to cancel out negative ideas that limit your potential and interfere with your success.

⮚       Two Time Periods

There are two time periods in life, the future. The present is only a brief, fleeting moment. You can choose to focus you attention on what has happened, which cannot be changed, or on the the future, on what is possible, over which you have SOME CONTOL.

⮚       The sources of negative emotions

There are four basic causes of negative emotions. According to the Russian philosopher peter Ouspensky, in his book in search of the Miraculous, these are:

·        justification;

·        identification,

·        inward considering

·        blame.

 The greatest leap forward in changing your thinking and changing life will take place When you systematically eliminate all four of these causes of negative emotions from your life.

⮚       The Respect of others

When somerset Maugham, the fanmous English author, was asked by a reporter for his chef motivation for writing, he replied, “I write to earn the respect of the people I respect.”

⮚       No one is Guilty

Here is a common example. Two people in love get married. Both of them have the best of intentions and the highest of expectations for the future, or they wouldn`t get married in the first place. Unfortunately, people and situations change over time. The couple find that they are no longer happy together and decide to divorce. But then the problems really begin.

⮚       The power of forgiveness

The root cause of negative emotions, the main factor that predisposes a person to blaming and to anger and resentment, fear and doubt, envy and jealousy, is the inability to forgive someone we feel has hurt us in some way.

⮚        Positive versus negative worldviews

There are two basic ways of looking at you world. You can have a positive and a positive and benevolent worldview or a negetive and malevolent worldview. By taking responsibility for yourself and what happens to you, you become positive. You see the world in benevolent terms. You become more optimistic toward yourself and your possibilities. You become a happier and more effective person.

⮚        Set your own sails

There is a rule that I have l learned from experience:nNever do or refrain from doing something because you are concerned about what people might about you. The fact is that nobody is even thinking about you at all.

⮚        The opinions of others

The third major cause of negative emotions, according to Ouspensky, is inward considering. This occurs when you become overly concerned with the way people are treating you. If you perceive that someone is not giving you the respect that you feel you deserve, you can feel insulted and angry, and want to strike back. If people are rude or indifferent to you, you can experience their behavior as an attack on your personality or character. This interpretation of their attitiude or behavior can make you angry or depressed.

⮚       Choose your role models with care

There is nothing wrong with being thoughtful and concerned about the feelings and reactions of others toward you and your choices. When you select admirable people to look up to, you develop an inner guide that leads you to conduct yourself in an excellent way yourself.

⮚       Make excuses for other

Since your mind can hold only one thought at a time, the instant you start excusing  the other person you withdraw the energy or fuel that the negative emotions of anger  and resentment require to get going and stay burning. You reassert your mental control. You keep yourself calm and positive. In a little while, the situation passes and you forget all about it. By substituting a positive thought for a negative thought for a negative thought, you get rid of the negative emotion, whatever it is.

⮚       Do not take it personally

The second major cause of negative emotions according to Ouspensky, is identification, or attachment. This occur when you take something personally or you become attached to person or thing. You see the unhappy outcome of an event or circumstance as a personal affront or attack on you or on something you believe in or hold dearly. You become emotionally involved in a situation and identify so strongly with it that it affect you emotions and you reason in a negative way.

⮚       You can choose your thoughts

The law of substitution says,

 “ Your mind can hold only one thought at a time, positive or negative thought. You can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought whenever you choose.”

You can apply this law by deliberately thinking about something positive whenever you want to cancel out a thought or feeling that makes you angry or unhappy.