What if you were to go to the elementary school to drop off a form at the office? While you are standing at the front desk, a man in a ski mask barges in through the front door brandishing a gun and yelling profanities. Unseen by the gunman, the police officer assigned to your child’s […]
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Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States. Grateful guests will bring flowers to express appreciation and brighten the table of their host. Wednesday I will speak at the funeral of a friend. Consoling grievers will bring flowers to comfort the family and beautify the bier. I would rather speak to him than about him. Sometimes
My dad still consults with me on a regular basis and is one of my trusted advisors. He and I share a fear of plumbing. Dad taught me that there are two basic rules of plumbing: Rule number one: Water runs downhill. Rule number two: Don’t lick your fingers. Positive psychology also has
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Success comes in cans, not in can’ts. From a purely psychological perspective, what happens right after we tell ourselves we can’t? The next step after “I can’t” is, “I won’t even try. I’m done. Finished. Defeated.” “I can’t” is a toggle switch on the side of our brain that turns our creative mind off. It is
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Walt Disney was one of the most imaginative and visionary creators of our time. After the enormous success of Disneyland in California, Walt envisioned another park on the East Coast to compliment the one in California. Walt Disney passed away from lung cancer in 1966, almost 6 years prior to the opening of Walt Disney
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The motivational master, Earl Nightingale promoted Pathological Positivity when he suggested that we learn to habitually respond to even devastating circumstances by saying “that’s good” – then engage our marvelous minds to discover or create what’s good about it. As a psychologist, I see the power in this strategy. Our mind will dutifully fulfill our
Questions are power tools of change. Power tools work best when plugged in and turned on. Sometimes the questions we ask are not really questions. My friend and creative editor, Tom Cantrell, called me on this recently when he asked, “Was that a question, or a statement disguised as a question?” Here’s a common example: “How can I
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Is there a program or process that propels us predictably to unprecedented personal power, productivity, and profit? Yes. Pathological Positivity. Our planet is plagued with a pandemic of poisonous pessimism. The popular perception of painful or perturbing problems is pathogenically paralyzing. Pathological Positivity programs and positions us to perceive positive possibilities in problems. It inspires and provokes people to
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What is the biggest barrier to happiness, success, prosperity? Fear and worry. Fear gets in our way more than anything else I know. When we feel fear, we have a natural avoidance response. It is built in – automatic. Avoidance brings with it short term relief, but in the long run makes the fear worse. After we
When you turn on a flashlight, you see a little spot of light projected wherever you point the device. Have you ever seen a flashdark? This is a device that projects a little spot of dark wherever you point it. Not! Similarly, what happens when you open a dark closet in a brightly lit room?
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