Choose the Positive Habit

We all have habits.  Our days are filled with so many habitual activities it would be impossible to count them all.  The same sequence of things that you do to  get ready for work every morning, the route you drive every day that you often day dream through large sections of, constantly checking your blackberry or phone, having consistently negative thoughts about the current economy.  These are all habits.  Let me ask a question about all of these examples, do you have the choice to change them?  Absolutely!!

No one can deny that we are in challenging times.  You see it every day in the news, every time you talk to your friends, business associates, and family, the facts are everywhere.  In fact, the negativity is now so prevalent, that it has become habit to bring up the bad economy as a conversation starter.  Well, if negativity is on the tip of your tongue, it most certainly is in your thoughts. 

‘The best way to get through hard times is to take action – not by feeling sorry for yourself.’

John Paul DeJoria

Yes, the economy is bad.  Yes, it is a tough time.  Yes, there is uncertainty.  However, what action are you going to take today?  Right now, what are you going to do?  Are you going to continue to read the headlines that tell you what you already know?  Are you going to continue to engage in conversations where you leave feeling worse than when you started?

I challenge you to take action today.  Make the choice to be positive, right now.  Not tomorrow, not when the economy looks better, right now.  You can make that choice.  Just as you can make the choice to eat your breakfast before you check your blackberry tomorrow, you can choose to be positive.  When you wake up tomorrow, tell yourself that you are going to be positive.  Really make the commitment to give it a shot for one day.  When someone asks you how you are doing, tell them ‘Great’.  You might think this is just putting lipstick on a pig, or some other metaphor.  However, I know that you are doing great.  I know that you have so many things to be thankful for, your family, your health, your freedom.  When you tell that person that you are doing great, you will feel positive.  Try and turn that day dream car ride into something positive as well.  Use the time to call loved ones and friends you haven’t caught up with in awhile, or listen to a positive audio book.  Make the choice to turn monotony into a positive, productive experience.  You will have begun making the choice of being positive, and you won’t look back.

‘But the fact is that I wouldn’t have won even a single Tour de France without the lessons of illness.  What it teaches is this: pain is temporary.  Quitting lasts Forever.

Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts

The economy will get better.  There will be opportunities that present themselves only after a tough time.  Why wait to make the choice to be positive and forward looking?  At the next get together you attend, would you rather talk to the person that wants to talk about foreclosures, or the person smiling and talking about how great the weather has been recently?  Be the positive person.  Choose the positive habit.  It’s contagious.  Not only for those around you, but most importantly, for you.

Kyle C. Ryan