Most of us utterly fail to achieve our full potential. A school of thought known as positive thinking asserts that the reason for this is that our thinking patterns prevent us from acting effectively. Norman Vincent Peale, author of the best-seller "The Power of Positive Thinking" advised, "Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal power comes to mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out." This takes training and practice.
Know Your Dream
It is impossible to reach your destination if you don't know where you're going. Likewise, it is impossible to make your dream come true until you have a clear, realistic and challenging dream. Take as much time as you need to formulate your dream.
Take Action
Action is the difference between a wish and a desire, and wishes carry no power. Don't worry if you feel you don't have enough energy. The energy will come the moment you take action--and not a single moment before.
Make a Commitment
A commitment is a promise to yourself to persist in following your dream no matter how you may feel at any given moment. You won't always feel like following through on a course of action. Nevertheless, persisting in the face of a contrary mood will tend to elevate your mood in the long run, making it easier to push past future setbacks.
Live in the Present
This doesn't mean you should fail to plan for the future--only that you should free yourself from recriminations about the past and worries about the future. Prepare yourself for the future, but don't worry about it. As Jesus stated, "Sufficient for today is its own trouble." Living in day-tight compartments will free up tremendous amounts of wasted energy that you can use right now.
Respect Yourself
Realistically assess both your strengths and weaknesses, but don't let them define you. Instead of waiting for victory or defeat to tell you whether or not you are a worthy person, simply assume your own value. Self-respect cannot be earned--it can only be seized in an act of brutal psychological violence. In this way you will remove one of the main obstacles to achievement--personal insecurity.
Practice "Kaizen"
"Kaizen" is a Japanese word that refers to consistent, incremental improvement rather than sudden quantum leaps. Focus on your step-by-step progress based on concrete actions, and don't waste your time with "should have" or "could have" recriminations.
Use Positive Internal Dialogue
Make a habit of monitoring your own thinking and classifying each thought as positive or negative. When you catch yourself slipping into negative thinking, make a conscious effort to replace the negative thought with a positive one. "Positive" doesn't mean denying unpleasant realities--rather, it means dealing with both pleasant and unpleasant realities in a constructive rather than destructive manner.
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