The 3 Reasons Why Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work

You’ve heard it, you might have even said one of the following;

• “I’m so happy!”
• “Life is wonderful!”
• “Things couldn’t be better!”

We’ve all said the above, haven’t we? Another question is; did these statements work for you in the long-term?

I can say categorically that statements like the above examples don’t work long term. This is because words always stay on the surface. And what that means to you is that these words do not remove the self-doubt and negative self-talk we all have at times in our lives.

In my research, it shows that repeating a positive statement may benefit people with very high self-regard, but it backfires with those lacking any self-confidence.

I bring this up because on January the 19^th the majority of people have dropped their New Years resolution because things weren’t working out. And what happens when things don’t work out?

We feel sad, disappointed and negative. Which is because we had such high hopes for the New Year. Yes, you’ve taken action to be a better you, you’ve ‘commanded’ yourself to think about all the amazing things you can do, and then your plans fail or at least do not succeed as well as you had planned. Yes, this unconditional positivity creates rumination or reflection about the goal failure and in all likelihood intensifies or strengthens those negative emotional responses. In other words, this failure creates a bitter inner war.

If you want to hear the real facts it is that it is only natural to experience a range of emotions every day of our lives. These emotions range from joy to sadness or guilt. When you experience these negative emotions, it is wrong to attempt to cover-up these insecurities with positive thinking, as this fixes nothing.

The reasons for this dilemma or predicament are the following;

• Your Brain doesn’t believe your attempts to achieve your positive thoughts.  This is because when it comes to successfully dealing with your issues and problems, your brain knows your reality.
• You are thrown off by the errors in your judgement, instead of learning from them. In research done in the early 2000’s it showed increasing evidence that suggest reasoning and drive processes generate individual difference in happiness. In other words, unhappy people are inclined to agonize about themselves, which leads to unfavorable results.
• You Need to See Progress. As humans we need to see that our actions are making some reasonable progress. Unfortunately, for many taking action is the most difficult part of the process and yet, it is the most helpful in getting yourself to be more optimistic.

Taking Action is Required

The idea of being able to become more positive by simply thinking about it leaves out a very important component for success in achieving your wishes, goals and desires, and that’s energetic commitment.

You can think about all you want to achieve and feel great about these thoughts, but truthfully you aren’t going to achieve those wishes, goals and desires without applying yourself in overcoming your mental obstacles.

This is especially true when it comes to health, relationships, workplace/career, emptiness, or a haunting past.

In many instances, we need to balance thinking with action, which is an area that we at The Resilience Doctor specialize it.

When you absolutely need some help give Tim at call at 519-539-2267.