Positive Thoughts Equal Positive Results
This is another lesson that used to hang thoughtfully on the walls of our consulting practice. I love it and repeat it often – to myself and others.
Positive thinking is not wishful optimism. Positive thinking works because it changes what you do.
When you believe something is possible, you try harder.
You push through setbacks because you know they are temporary. Pushing through is what leads to success—not the belief itself, but the actions it inspires.
Conversely, negative thinking does the opposite. If you assume something won’t work, you stop trying the first time you hit resistance. That creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. You didn’t fail because it was impossible; you failed because you gave up.
The tricky part is that your beliefs often shape themselves around your first few attempts. If you start something and hit a wall, it’s easy to conclude the wall is permanent. But if you push a little longer, you might find it’s not.
Positive thinking, then, is less about being cheerful and more about giving yourself permission to keep going. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it tilts the odds in your favor.
Lesson Learned: The key is to believe just enough to act. You don’t need certainty—just the willingness to try. The irony is that once you try, the belief you need tends to show up. Positive thinking works because action turns belief into reality.