With all the bad news in the media, it's easy to get sucked into a sky-is-falling view of the world. But guess what? Despite all the gloom and doom, positive things are still happening all around us.
People are still making money. They're still happy. They're still experiencing positive personal growth. People are still finding bliss.
Are people experiencing bad things as well? Of course. But why would you choose to let that define what you are going to experience in your life?
Just because challenging things are happening doesn't mean they have to happen to you. And if they do happen to you, just because other people are wailing and gnashing their teeth about how horrible they are doesn't mean that you have to respond that way.
Take a cue from Pigpen
Remember Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip? Everywhere he went, a cloud of dust and dirt would follow him. He had his own personal environment that didn't seem to have anything to do with the environment around him.
You can do the same thing, creating a positive personal ecosystem that surrounds you as you move through your life. Except instead of a cloud of dust, it's a cloud of positive perspective and positive experience.
How? The first step is being consciously aware that you're doing it. Choose to invest in creating it. Once you do that, here are some ideas that will help form and strengthen that positive personal ecosystem.
Keep things in perspective
If negative things are happening in your life, don't let them fill any more of the picture than they really merit. Too often we let whatever challenges we're experiencing swell to fill the room, leaving precious little space for us to experience what's good.
Imagine it as a pie chart, with individual slices assigned to all the things in our lives, good and bad. When you lose perspective, the negative slice takes up almost the entire pie. But if we look at it realistically, there is typically a lot that is positive that we're essentially ignoring because we're choosing to wallow in what's wrong.
Make sure your slices of the pie are in line with reality.
Focus on the positive
It's easy to focus on the negative. It's the whole bur-under-the-saddle thing. It hurts, so it grabs your attention. But what you focus on will determine how you see the world, so make it a habit to spend time every day focusing on what's positive in your life.
Use your commute to take mental note of what's good in your life. Write a list every morning, or every night. Schedule a regular time with a friend to get together and talk about nothing but what is right in your life.
Surround yourself with positive people
I can't stress this enough. In a way, you will become the people you surround yourself with. If everyone around you is negative and pessimistic, it will drag you down. If the people around you have a positive attitude and believe in their potential to create a vibrant, fulfilling life - regardless of the circumstances - you will start to live up to that.
Use tools to build it
There are many different tools you can use to build that positive personal ecosystem. Explore meditation. Pray, if that's something you do. Keep a gratitude journal (or a positive journal). Experiment with EFT.
Anything you can use to help build the positive and eliminate the negative in your mindset is a potential tool.
Look for the possibilities
Create an outlook that is jam-packed with possibilities and potential.
Make a habit of looking for possibilities. When you're faced with an obstacle, trying brainstorming as many ways around it as you can. Do this for big obstacles and small ones. Take advantage of any opportunity to exercise this part of your brain.
While you're at it, look for possibilities even when you aren't encountering obstacles. Many life-expanding opportunities zip right by us, simply because we're not paying attention.
The more possibilities you see, the more choices you have. And the more choices you have, the less likely you are to feel trapped and stuck. And ultimately, the less likely you will be to fall into a victim mentality. You'll be driving the bus instead of sitting in the back breathing in exhaust fumes.
Plant seeds
Don't sit around and wait for the positive to unfold in your life. It might happen, but it's a lot less like than if you actively cultivate it. Look for ways to create fertile ground and plant seeds of potential. Maybe that means building relationships. Maybe that means letting people know what you want to do. Maybe it means telling the world what you have to offer - and doing it consistently and persistently.
The more seeds you plant, and the more work you do to create fertile soil for them to take root in and grow, the more potential there is for the positive to come into your life. It's simple math.
Feed the positive
Make a conscious choice to feed your positive outlook by what you expose your brain to. Watch inspiring movies. Read motivating books. Attend inspiring talks. Continually exposing your mind to, "Yes!" helps create that positive perception of the world.
Eliminate the "junk food"
The flip side of that coin is cutting out the emotionally toxic junk food. Violence and bad news adds nothing to your life. There is no upside to it. All it does is contribute fear, anxiety, and doubt. Stop watching television news. Even better, cut out TV altogether. Choose not to watch movies that reinforce a dark view of the world.
Care for yourself
Your body and brain is the factory that is creating your experience of life. And for a good experience, that factory needs proper maintenance. Eating well and incorporating physical activity into your life will support your ability to feel good.
Do good
Study after study has shown the benefits of doing good. Volunteer. Give. Spend time focusing on helping others. Not only does it feel good, it takes your mind off whatever difficulties you might be experiencing and helps put things in perspective.
Have a vision
I can almost guarantee that you will feel bumps along the way. But if you have a vision for the life you want to create and the difference you want to make, those bumps will be easier to tolerate. It might not take away the pain, but it will give you something positive to focus on as you move through them.
As Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
So there you have it. This by no means an exhaustive list of ways to create your positive personal ecosystem, but it's a good place to start.
How about you? What has been effective in feeding your own positive personal ecosystem? What approaches do you take? Do you have thoughts on any of these that I listed? Other suggestions? I would love to hear your ideas.
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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