How does “Positive Thinking” Make Failure Harder?

If Your Milk Turns Sour - Don't Be The Pussy Who Drinks it!

“Positive Thinking” it it’s extreme form encourages one to just focus on the “Positives” in a given situation (duhh!).

Well that sounds obvious, and in fact – it’s great being Positive right? After all – when we feel positive, we just feel better, things flow better and we are likely to get what we want?

The universe will provide? All that “Financial Freedom” flowing to me in abundance? And oh no – watch out for those evil “Negative Thinkers” out there, who suck and work 9 to 5 everyday for their “Miserable Lives”.

After all, people who work 9 to 5 suck right? They aren’t enlightened like those “Positive Thinkers?” huh?

Interesting concept “Positive Thinkers”! How do you explain why 1/2 the world lives in Poverty? Let me guess – they are the “Negative Thinkers” according to your logic?

When I first arrived in Sydney (after moving up with Hobart) I picked up a contract with a really unethical and well known employer that really has a lot of people out there who aren’t big fans of them.  During this time, I really encountered pretty much the extreme or “Workplace Politics” from all directions.

As things were tough (and I had a lot of sources telling me how great “Positive Thinking” was) I gave it a shot and really applied it in this sense.  Cutting a long story short, by using “Positive Thinking” it made me really inactive, it stopped me considering relevant scenarios and making contingency plans in case I got the sack or something there.

So eventually, my contract ended early, things didn’t play out my way and while I was so busy “Being Positive” I didn’t deal with potential relaties such as being unemployed, or being prepared for tough times.

“Positive Thinking” in this case, got me into a lot of trouble – it didn’t keep me aware of my environment, or preparing for when things go bad.

Using a perishable goods example, it’s a bit like having 1L of Milk and the expiry date just lapses.  A bit of “Realistic Thinking” kicks in saying, hmm – I better do something about it. But then on no, “Positive Thinking” will tell you to ignore that and focus on how great things are, i.e. it came from a cow, it’s in a nice carton.  You then don’t do anything about it – and hey presto, your Milk Goes Sour!

Then you tell a “Positive Thinker” what happened to you and they just say you aren’t “Positive Enough!”.  Failure for many people (including myself) is a very tough thing to deal with, but “Positive Thinking” just makes it harder and worse.

If you are in a sticky situation or something isn’t going your way, please don’t screw up like I did and don’t be a “Positive Thinker” here – please be realistic and do whatever you need to do nice and early.

After All – if your Milk turns sour, don’t be the Pussy who ends up drinking it!

I wish I learnt this stuff 20 years ago!