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Friday, July 19, 2013

The Power of a Superior Psychology

The Power of a Superior Psychology

by Paul Gorney

When we speak of having a superior psychology, we are talking about utilizing our energy and will power to take control of what we think and how those thoughts impact the way we approach life. For example it does not take a lot of energy for us to think negative thoughts, just like it doesn't take much energy to generate darkness or for a weed to grow. However it does take energy to produce light. Just look at the energy of the sun. It does take energy for me to plant my tomatoes with the intent and effort around growing tomatoes, despite the continuing incursion of all those weeds. Those weeds are just like the negative thoughts that can entwine our thinking and can fill us with doubt, fear and anger. In the case of my garden, I am applying my energy on the outcome of growing tomatoes and in the process; I get rid of the weeds.

It seems there is an automatic negative downward force which I'll refer to as the gravity of the mind that can pull us down. It's so easy to see what's wrong with things, situations and people. Just a couple of weeks ago I was speaking to a colleague. It didn't take long before we were discussing all the things that are wrong or problematic at work. I noticed that the topic of "what's wrong" flowed so easily and we both had plenty of content to contribute. The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of things right with our work as well. In fact the good far outweighs the bad. Yet, we tend to gravitate to what we think is wrong or broken. We have a tendency to complain and criticize about our situations and the people around us. This negativity undermines our efforts to be happy, which is the one thing I believe we all want.

The power of a superior psychology means that we need to consciously take control and ownership of the kind of thinking we do. We in fact conquer our thinking and take control of how we feel. A superior psychology recognizes that our top priority every day is to just feel good and to be in a state where we look for the opportunity in every problem. We are calm and even cheerful in the face of adversity. We are positive, optimistic and resourceful most of the time.

To achieve this state, we must flood our minds constantly with positive and constructive thoughts. We have to maintain awareness when those negative thoughts show up, so we can overpower their downward negative pull with uplifting life energy that propels us to the outcomes we are looking for in our lives.

Have you ever met someone that says to you, "I just want to feel bad today"? Not likely. I suspect most people want to feel good. In fact I bet everyone wants to feel good all the time. I have met so many people that tell me, "I just want to be happy". Yet, so few people take the time or put in the required energy to pull out the weeds of negative thinking that is choking their personal happiness.

In many cases it seems we want or need something external of us to make us feel good. We have all been bombarded with ads on TV and radio with all these medications to help us feel better. A recent statistic revealed by the CDC indicates that nearly 50% of Americans on at least 1 prescription medication. One in ten of us are on antidepressants. This, despite all those wonderful potential side effects. Anything following the statement "May cause the following ...." Gets pretty scary to me. I mean, they are advertising a drug to help cure depression with a possible side effect that the person taking this drug will have thoughts of killing themselves? Back to my garden analogy, isn't this kind of like blowing up the garden to get rid of the weeds?

I do not want to discount medical treatment in any way. However, I bet in a number of these cases, we are medicating as opposed to taking control of the kind of thoughts we allow or put into our minds.

At the same time many of us blame others for the way we feel. Many people just become victims and have relinquished their personal power to guard the doorway of their minds from these counterproductive feelings and thoughts. I love Napoleon Hill's quote in his book Think and Grow Rich. "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self". The negative thoughts of the mind can take over your thinking like the undesirable weeds of an untended garden that choke out the life energy and light that enable the desirable fruit we intended to bare.

It's been said throughout the ages, that a person is what they are and where they are because of the thoughts that go into their mind. A person is the thoughts they most frequently think. If this is true, and I believe it is. It's critical that the thoughts we think are positive and uplifting thoughts. Every day we are blasted with what's wrong in the world or at work or in our families. Many conversations center on complaining and finding fault with things, others and ourselves. Who talks to you the most every single day? I strongly suspect the one you hear the most every day is yourself. As a result of this fact, it's pretty important that the things you say to yourself are constructive. In some cases this may be the only source of any positive commentary. Keep in mind; if you can be the architect of your thoughts. Why not build a master piece? To do this we need to take control of our thinking.

To achieve a superior psychology takes a little conscious energy, strategy, repetition and persistence. However, it's not really hard work. Yet it may be considered harder than applying no effort at all to the way we think and go about life. A superior psychology is really about just feeling good. It's having a sense of wellbeing and connectedness. However, as I mentioned this takes a little energy and it's something we need to work into our daily routine. I suspect most people just wake up every morning and go about their day with little or no consideration to deciding how they are going to feel that day. While I'm sure there are many people that just naturally feel great all the time. I bet most people need to make a conscious decision to feel great versus just letting the natural events of the mind run its course.

So how do we consciously take control of our psychology in such a way that we are upbeat and feel good every day? I suggest that we start the minute we wake up in the morning. If you would spend 20 to 30 minutes at the beginning of each day, bombing your mind with positive thoughts you will significantly improve your chances to be in a positive and optimistic state. You will absolutely give yourself what will likely be the only dialog of the day with a steady stream of completely positive, life enhancing, upbeat words and thoughts. Over a period of time this will raise you up to all the wonderful possibilities in your life. It will be like putting on a suit of armor protecting you from all the arrows of negative thinking.

I suggest that our first thoughts being about gratitude. Someone once told me that "all progress stops when you run out of gratitude". Therefore, I suggest that all progress starts with gratitude. So why not start every single day with thoughts of gratitude? We all have so much to be grateful for no matter our life situation. While some folks will think about being grateful for our material possessions or our accomplishments in life, there is so much more to be grateful for. For example our health or our families. We are grateful for our children and our spouses or partners in life.

How about what I believe to be one of the most overlooked things we should be grateful for and that is that we are loved. Yes, no matter who you are or where you are, somebody loves you. You may not want to acknowledge it, but people do love you. How about this? Can you be grateful for something as simple as the breath you are about to take? I think so. Although that breath happens all day without even thinking about it, it's the key to life. We would perish without it. Think about that for a few minutes. Last week I ran into an older guy at the gym that I see regularly. This time he was carrying an oxygen tank with a breathing tube. I've seen this guy for years as he walked on the treadmill. I asked him what was with the tank and the tube. He said he was having a hard time breathing and he needed more oxygen. It's so easy for us to just pass by some of the most basic things we can be grateful for. Things that if we lost, our quality of life would be negatively impacted. Sometimes, I go for a week or two and actually write out a gratitude list every morning. It's always fun to look back and see some the things that come on to the list over a period of time. Interestingly enough, the more you do this, the more you will find things to be grateful for.

The next wave of thoughts is the " I AM" thoughts. Nothing is more powerful than the declaration of "I AM". Funny how the gravity of the mind will often put some kind of negative after the word "I" with no effort at all. Often when you make a mistake like hitting a bad golf shot or not doing well in a presentation. I have noticed that many times when I'm golfing with someone they say, I'm probably going to hit a bad shot". Or, I'm hope I can get the ball close to the hole when they are attempting a putt. Why not say, I'm going to hit a great shot"? Or, " OK, this putts going in the hole". Now, you may not hit an amazing shot, or sink that putt. However, don't you think you significantly improve your chances of doing so by telling yourself that you will?

Apply that positive energy as you start the day and tell yourself "I AM happy". " I AM well". " I AM fit and healthy"." I feel amazing today" . " I will look for the good today". Go on to tell yourself, I will look for the seed of opportunity in every problem I face today. I like to call this "success opportunity". Do this little routine with energy and enthusiasm. I guarantee you will have a lift on your day.

Next think about your dreams and the things you want for your life. I like to sit down in comfortable chair and just relax for a few minutes and see me doing the things I love to do or having the life of my dreams. How often do you sit down comfortably and totally relax every muscle in your body and think about your dream life? I believe most people don't give the life of their dreams much thought. To me thinking about and visualizing living your dream life enables "the art of the possible". The more you can see the life you want and the better you can get clear on all the details, the possibility of achieving this vision becomes more realistic. You start to get clear on how you will live. The things you will do and the stuff that you will have. This is all done through the use of your imagination. Imagination is such a powerful tool. You can go anywhere and do anything in your imagination. You can meet with and talk with anyone living or not living that you want to in your imagination. The challenge is most of us stopped using our imagination when we exited childhood. Take 15-20 minutes every morning to build and live in your dream house. Have your dream career doing what you love and being paid extremely well to do it. You can use this time to imagine how a particular event or meeting will go. I like to imagine playing my best round of golf first thing in the morning before I hit the golf course. However, my favorite is imagining me having, being and doing all the things I would love to be do and have in my life. Somehow by doing this simple exercise, I feel a sense of optimism, authenticity, peace and possibility as I go into my day. I feel like there are great things yet to come in my life.

As I mentioned the power of superior psychology is really about taking control of your thoughts and making a decision to feel good. You will be amazed as to how the world responds to you when you're feeling really good. I notice that after I do my morning ritual, the world just seems more aligned to me. I feel more engaged with people. People are just friendlier toward me. It's like you light up the room with your positive energy. People naturally respond differently and more upbeat toward a more positive you. You get more smiles and you are more approachable.
I believe this is because you give off a more positive vibration to the world when you're feeling good. I have this quote from Dr. Joe Vital on the wall of my office: " It's really important that you feel good. Because feeling good is what goes out as a signal into the universe and starts to attract more of itself to you. So the more you can feel good, the more you will attract the things that help you feel food and that will keep bringing you up higher and higher". It's the law of attraction in action.

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit and it takes energy and will power to stick to a routine. As we discussed at the beginning of the article, it takes energy for the sun to light up the world. It takes energy to achieve the outcomes I want in my life even if it is as simple as growing tomatoes in my garden. Many people don't realize it takes some level of effort to just feel good. However, if you will just start your day 30-45 minutes earlier so you can get your mind into a high performance state, I firmly believe you will start attracting more of things you want for your life and feel a sense of connectedness and all things possible that are out there waiting for you. If you would just commit to doing these things for the 21 days, it will become a habit. It may also turn out to be the best part of the day.

This article, me or anyone else cannot make you feel good. At least not for an extended period of time. It's up to each of us to make a decision to feel good. To be positive and optimistic. To imagine life's possibilities and to look for the good in all situations. To contemplate the wonders of our planet and the universe. To live life from a higher place. Taking control of how we think with the desired outcome of just feeling good every day. To me, this is the psychology of being happy. A superior psychology if I do say so myself.

About Paul Gorney
Paul Gorney enjoys writing and reading self help books and articles focused on living an inspired life. Paul has a passion around helping people to consciously and intentionally shape their destiny to live the life of their dreams. Paul is a motivational speaker and author and enjoys writing and speaking on a variety of topics focused on helping people to set goals and accomplish amazing things with their lives. He is a certified Life Coach specializing in career coaching and a certified NLP Practioner.

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