Why Negative Thoughts are Your Greatest Enemies to Success

Why Negative Thoughts are Your Greatest Enemies to Success - Brian Tracy

I still remember the moment when I realized how to get rid of negative thoughts…

I was twenty-one, I was broke and living in a small one-room apartment in the middle of a very cold winter working on a construction job during the day.

In the evening I usually couldn’t afford to go out of my apartment so I had a lot of time to think…

One night as I sat at my small kitchen table, I had a flash of awareness that changed my life.

I suddenly realized negative thoughts were destroying my success.

I saw clearly at that moment that if anything in my life were going to change, it would have to begin with me.

If I didn’t change, nothing else would change, I was responsible and I needed to make it happen.

I still remember that moment…

It was like a first parachute jump—both scary and exhilarating.

There I was, standing of the edge of life. And I decided to jump. From that moment onward, I accepted that I was in charge of my life.

I knew that if I wanted my situation to be different, I would have to be different, everything, including my success in life, was up to me.

Negative Thoughts Are Enemies to Your Success

The greatest enemies to your success in life are negative thoughts of all kinds.

They hold you down, tire you out, and take away all your joy in life.

From the beginning of time, they have done more harm to individuals and societies than all the plagues of history.

One of your most important goals, if you want to be truly happy, is to free yourself from negative thinking.

Refuse to Rationalize

Rationalization causes automatic negative thoughts.

When you rationalize, you attempt to give a, “Socially acceptable explanation for an otherwise socially unacceptable act.”

You rationalize to explain away or put a favorable light on something that you have done that you feel bad or unhappy about.

You cast yourself in the roles of the victim, and you mark the other person or organization into the oppressor or the “bad guy.”

Rise Above the Opinions of Others

Over-concern or a hypersensitivity about the way other people treat you causes negative thoughts.

For some people, their entire self image is determined by the way other people speak to them, talk to them or about them, or even look at them.

They have little sense of personal value or self-worth apart from the opinions of others. If those opinions of others are negative for any reason, real or imagined, the “victim” immediately experiences, anger, embarrassment, shame, self pity, and despair.