3 Simple Techniques To Keep Negativity Out Of Your Life

If you don’t control your mind, you will never control your life.

It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, everything that gets inside your mind has a tremendous impact on how you feel, think and act. On what you achieve or don’t achieve. On who you become or don’t become.

Sometimes it’s so instantaneous that a great day becomes a nightmare after you hear a demotivating word or someone looks at you with an angry face.

Your mind starts doing its work, turning the seed that has been planted into something huge and out of control.

Do you feel that this situation is familiar?

This is the natural state of an unguarded mind.

The 2 Keys For Taking Control of Your Mind

You are exposed to thoughts and ideas all the time. Your mind picks the ones that have a bigger impact, positive or negative, and starts working on them until it receives something more impactful to replace them with.

This is one of the saddest elements of human nature I have found, but also one of the most encouraging.

If you are not aware of what’s going on in your mind, your life feels like a roller coaster, and your destiny is at the mercy of external factors.

So, how do you lock out all the negative factors and influences you are bombarded with all day, so they don’t impact you?

Simply put, you can’t.

If someone shouts angrily at you on the street, it’s going to impact you.

But what you can do is DECIDE whether your mind is going to pick that thought and turn it into a monster that ruins your day, or pick something optimistic and inspiring that lets you flow seamlessly through your day instead.

There are 2 key factors for taking more control over your subconscious:

1. Reaction: How you react to your environment. How aware you are of when a bad thought is starting to grow in your mind and how fast you can take action to replace it with the thought you want to have there.
2. Action: Placing in your mind the thoughts you want it to work on. Then letting them repeat, amplify and grow until you soak them up completely and they push you towards the goals you define for yourself.

After years of testing techniques to master my mind, I have collected a few that produce great results.

Here are three of my favorites:

1. Word Amplification

The simplest way to interact with your mind is by repetition of words.

If you detect your mind working on an idea that makes you feel bad, start repeating a word or sentence that makes you think immediately about something that inspires you or makes you smile.

For instance, if you would love to go to Japan on your next vacation, start repeating the word “Japan, Japan, Japan…” or the sentence “I’m in Japan.” It will make you feel better immediately and move your mind and feelings to a different place. .

A curious thing I have found is that using the exact opposite thought doesn’t work as well as using a thought that represents something different and positive for you.

If, for instance, you find yourself thinking that you don’t like your body and start repeating “I’m fit,” it will be harder to make yourself believe it and you will have to struggle to replace the negative thought.

If, instead, you avoid the fight and focus your mind on a different thought, you will forget the original thought more easily and soon everything will start to revolve around the new one.

Whenever you find yourself trapped by a negative thought, stop everything you are doing and repeat to yourself 10 or 20 times the most uplifting words you can find. Let your mind do its magic before coming back to your daily routine with renewed vigor and focus.

2. Painting The Picture Of What You Want To Achieve

This is a habit many successful people have used all their lives. In some cases, it is the only one they have kept after becoming extremely rich.

Write down your goals in the morning, at night, and every time you cannot remember clearly what you are aiming for and realize you are doing something that is not taking you closer to your goals.

After you have them in writing, take a minute to visualize each of them. If it’s hard for you to do this on your own, find some related pictures on the Internet.

This will help you start quickly producing bigger ideas for achieving your goals, what will get you out of your negative mental processes. Remember that the trick is to offer yourself thoughts that are bigger, more inspiring, and more exciting than the ones you are busy with at the moment.

Between two fruits, the monkey in your mind will always pick the one with the strongest flavor.  And guess what, he doesn’t care if it’s sour or sweet.

3. Acting Like the Person You Want to Become (AKA Playing The Part)

You can call this technique “playing the part” or “fake it till you make it.”

Your goal here is to trigger a mental reaction from your physical actions. You have to ask yourself what the perfect version of yourself would be doing if they were in your shoes right now.

Then do it.

Well, you may ask, “What if I don’t know the details about the person I want to become?”

Let me give you some support and ask you a few questions to help you remember how you would like to be, or what you would like to have right now.

• What do you hate about your life? What would you like to have instead?
• What is missing in your life?
• What are the attributes and habits you would like to have?
• What do you enjoy doing but can’t do right now?
• If you had all the money and time in the world, how would you choose to spend your days?

There you have some food for thought to help you describe the perfect version of yourself.

Now forget about money and material things and think only about that human being. What would that person be doing now?

Start acting the part, and soon you will find that your thoughts seem to be more aligned with that person. You may start having thoughts that seem to come from a far more developed person, and that’s simply because you are acting like that.

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13 Fatal Mistakes You’re Making At Work Today

Is what you’re doing at work today really the best thing for both your company and for you? Spare a few moments to gain some work perspective. You might discover you’re making some fatal mistakes, or even thirteen of them.

Not Understanding the Company’s Goals

It’s everyone’s responsibility to understand the most critical goals for their company. Even if you weren’t told what’s most important, it doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t figure it out. The more disconnected you are from these goals, the more you’ll be task managed. Doing what you’re told isn’t enough; we have to do what most needs to get done.

Not Making Yourself Instrumental

Ask yourself: “If I was fired tomorrow, would my company suffer any major disruption or difficulty?” Be honest. If the answer is “No!” then you’re setting yourself up to be replaced. You’re likely either not excelling at your role, or you’re working on the wrong objectives. Job security means having responsibility for something important, and doing it exceptionally well.

Being Yourself

No one is the best professional they can be. One trick to perform better is to emulate the habits of your professional heroes: how would Steve Jobs stay productive, how does Mark Cuban make decisions, how does Marissa Mayer handle phone calls, how does Magic Johnson conduct meetings, and how do they dress? By playing the part of your mentors, you’ll settle into your own optimal work style, and become the best version of yourself.

Not Taking Enough Breaks

The single biggest cost to businesses may be the “sitting-dead”: burnt-out employees achieving a fraction of their potential. I always hated seeing my team goofing around, but I realised how important breaks are later on in my career. Now I’d much rather have team members go on as-many-as-needed energising breaks (outside the office) throughout the day, but then be 110% engaged and working until the job gets done. Over-worked zombies infect everyone else, and leave you with an office of aimless employees.

Putting Limits on Yourself

We almost never accomplish more than we can imagine for ourselves. Many people are fond of telling us what we can’t do, and sometimes these voices become our own limiting self-talk. This doubt becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Go into work every day with the attitude you can get anything done. Be something more tomorrow than the something less you were yesterday. The only limit of your potential is your imagination and effort.

Forgetting the Customer

People as important as your children, spouse, siblings and parents are spending their hard-earned money on your products or services. How much of your workday do you spend thinking about, talking to, or interacting with your customers? Probably not enough. Businesses that are disengaged from their customers tend to die untimely deaths. Lead your day with a customer-centric focus and you’ll never go wrong.

Not Acting Like the Boss

I often encouraged my team members to come into work, and imagine you’re the CEO. What’s the mindset you’d need if you were the leader and how would you act? That’s the same sense of urgency and ownership you need to have a daily basis to excel in whatever your job function entails.

Assuming No One is Judging Your Performance

People are always talking about how you stack up as a team member. You’re not fooling anyone; your managers and co-workers know what kind of job you’re doing. Just because you haven’t gotten any critical feedback lately, doesn’t mean people think you’re doing a good job. Your own standards should be much higher than everyone else; judge your own performance daily and assume everyone else is as well. (Tip: ask for written quarterly performance reviews, even if it isn’t company policy.)

Not Being Likable

Ideally, all work environments would be pure meritocracies. But we’re social organisms. People like working with people they like to be around. You get ahead, in part, by getting along. Consider this scenario: Company management needs to do cutbacks. Given a choice between two relatively equal performers, guess which one gets the axe: the temperamental teammate or the affable employee?

Taking It Too Personally

So much time and energy is wasted being upset. When faced with a conflict or critical feedback, our first instinct should be to ask: “How I can improve?” Trust the intentions of the person giving the feedback. Quite often it’s not a personal condemnation; they’re hopefully thinking about how to achieve the best outcome. You may disagree with their conclusion or approach, but there’s always valuable feedback on how we can improve in any conflict or critique.

Not Staying on Top of Your Industry

Dedicate half an hour each day to reading about the latest news and trends about your industry, whether you’re in tech or fashion or furniture. This will keep you current on the changes coming so you can bring new ideas and perspectives. As Stephen Covey teaches: Sharpen the Saw.

Forgetting the One Most Important Thing

What’s the one most important thing you can to accomplish today, this week, or this month to move the business forward most. Write it down each day and hold yourself accountable to accomplishing that endeavour above all else. Too often we devote our energy to mundane tasks like checking email or meetings that falsely let us feel productive. We can get many things wrong, and still be doing a great job, if we get the most important things done right.

Relying on Career Employment

Career employment no longer exists for many of us. You always have the skill set to get the next job. Ask yourself: “If I got fired today, would I be able to find a comparable or better job within three months?” If the answer is no, you’re sorely unprepared for this modern economy. In Reid Hoffman’s new book, “The Alliance,” he makes the case for a new loyalty pact between employer and employee. The employer can count on a commitment from the employee of up to four years, and the employee can count on the employer to provide the opportunity and training to help them find their next better career opportunity. Don’t let yourself get caught unprepared for your next voluntary or involuntary career move.

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Saving 2 Hours Per Work Day is Easy!

Some people talk about the notion that they don’t have enough time. They talk and talk and talk… but they don’t take any action and change what they’ve got. They hope their circumstances change so they can benefit more from what they do.

Smart people take charge. They change their lives by doing things differently. They understand that the only change they can count on is the change they create. For those people, this is the article that can make them save 2 hours per work day. Of course everybody else is invited to read along as well. Just make sure you don’t just read. You have to read, implement, and benefit. Reading alone won’t make you save time.

This Is The Basis Of 2 Hours Saved Per Day

Since you have time to save and not time to waste, I won’t go into all the tiny details. I know you are a professional, highly educated person who can think for yourself. So here are the 4 rules you can use to start saving time.

1. Know what you want and do everything possible at any moment to get there.
2. Make a clear plan and start working consciously.
3. Learn smart working techniques (more on that later).
4. Analyze your working day and remove all that is not helping you (outsource, eliminate, etc.).

That’s basically it. When you do that, there is no way you cannot save time when working.

Smart Working Techniques

Plan Your Time

One of the most important things you can do is learn to plan your time ahead. I’m not just talking about the current day or week, but also this month and probably even this year! Many people let others dictate their schedule. This could be co-workers, your boss, customers, etc. Find out your own productive times and do what you do best during those hours.

Interruptions

Make sure you don’t just outline your day with the things you can plan, also schedule time for interruptions. That’s right, you must schedule your interruptions: all of the people who have questions, those who want to chat with you and just try to put their problems on your plate. You need to schedule this into your planning.

You could say that from 12:00 until 12:30 everybody can ask questions on whatever they want. Outside these hours, people should not do any kind of small talk. I know this may sound harsh and cold, but think about it… what is your biggest goal at work?

Are you paid to get results or be a person who talks with others about nothing all day? Small talk is great, but not all day. And of course, you can make it 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon, or 4 times for 30 minutes, whatever you want. Just schedule this so you can get things done!

Educate People

One reason why you will get more done using the ‘schedule interruptions’ method is because you educate people that you want to work during your non-interruption moments. Of course, the way you deliver that message also has a big impact on the way people look at you. :) Educate people with clarity and a good heart; be firm and let them know why you do this.

You also educate people by the way you work with them. You can schedule interruptions and still have this fail. Why? Because if you start to make small talk with everybody else during your normal working time then you will not set a good example.

Be the change, live the change, and change will occur! If you can’t change, how can you expect other people to change for you?

Meetings

One of my rules about meetings is this: I don’t take part if it is not really, really necessary for me to be there.

Even if my presence is needed, I make sure that I influence or change the agenda in such a way that my sections are at the beginning. I enter the meeting when it starts. I leave when the meeting has discussed my points.

Also, when a meeting is really unstructured and seems to go nowhere, I tell people I have to leave. My time is really valuable and I don’t want to waste it. Doing what I do best has more impact than sitting with a group of people who are sitting there to kill time.

Does this work? You bet! Do I get to see strange faces when I leave? In the beginning, people thought this was strange. When I explained to them why I do this, they usually understand.

Email

Oh boy… the big one. The one thing that most people start at the beginning of the day and close when they go home is their email client.

When you need distractions, and you have lots of time, you must keep your email client open. If not, close it. Don’t open it until the end of the morning. Process all your emails and close the tool again. Then, at the end of the day, you open up the email tool and process your emails again.

When this is working out for you, only go through your emails once a day. Just imagine, before you had a look at each email coming in — all the time you were losing, a minute reading that email and responding to it (another 1 to 2 minutes). That means 2 to 3 minutes per email.

Just say you receive 40 emails each day (that few??? Yes, because this is an example). 40 emails mean 40 distractions and 80 to 120 minutes of email time.

Now you do this only once and you see immediately that things are solved via email by others, things are no longer relevant, etc. You can email back faster because you see all of them. Perhaps you include a couple of people in one response. You can easily save 60 minutes alone on your email time!

Reading Materials

Yes… you can save time when reading. You probably heard about speed reading techniques.

Now don’t go wild and imagine that you need to read with 1000 or perhaps 2000 words per minute to make a real difference.

Imagine you read 2 hours each day. When you double your reading speed, you save one hour each day. Simple stuff, yet you are able to save lots of time. And that is done by just doubling your reading speed! The beauty is that you can do that easily in a couple of short sessions. Then, from that moment on, you can read twice as fast as you did before.

The Result

What do you think will happen when you start applying these ideas? Do you think 2 hours per work day is a lot or just the beginning? I am sure that the moment you do what you learned here, you will be on your way to wonderful working days again.

You will be home on time, have lots of free time, accomplish more, and have less stress. The biggest pitfall is this: you look at what you just read and think “I know this stuff and it works,” but you don’t actually use it on a consistent basis. When you don’t use this every day and you just think about the article… you just wasted a couple of minutes of your own time.

Sorry to be this direct, but you know in your heart this is the truth.

Action Points

People who want more time take one of the items above and use it for at least a week. People who want to change their lives, have a lot more free time, accomplish a lot more in the time they have… they start using all of this right now! These are the people who will benefit the most.

Action point: use what you read

Action point: if you don’t use what you read, stop talking about the fact that you don’t have enough time. You now have a way to do and be more in the time you have each day.

Action point: Make a list of things you want to accomplish with the 2+ hours you get each working day from now on. You need this :)

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