Modern Business Magazine April 2016 | Page 54

MODERN LEADERSHIP Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work…Useful Belief will get you out of the “Rut”! By Chris Helder P ositive thinking doesn’t work. Not really. Imagine if I walked up to someone who was struggling or who had the worst year of their life and I tried to encourage them by saying, “Come on, just be positive!” What would be the result? I imagine they would want to punch me in the face. Not only that, but there are numerous studies that show that if you lay in bed in 54 ModernBusiness April 2016 the morning and say to yourself, “Come on, try to be positive today. You can do it.” When 10 o’clock rolls around and you don’t feel positive anymore, you actually feel worse than when you started! Let me introduce you to the ideas of Useful Actions and Beliefs. USEFUL ACTIONS AND BELIEFS If you had the worst year of your life and you needed clarity on how to pull yourself out of the rut, ask yourself simple questions. “What is the most useful thing for me to do to get from ground zero to two? What is the most useful thing for me to do to get from two to five?” If you had a great year, “What is the most useful thing for me to do to get from seven to nine?” Instantly, you begin to identify the actions that you need to take