I recently re-read the amazing book by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone entitled ‘Success through a Positive Mental Attitude’. WOW, what an eye-opener.
Napoleon Hill’s books are legendary in their message and this one is no exception and W. Clement Stone was one of the most successful salesmen in the entire Insurance industry. Together they weave a rich tapestry of ideas, formulas and principles by which to achieve exactly what it is you want out of Life.
The main thread running through the book is one of changing your mind from a predominantly negative attitude to a positive one. They say that we all have an invisible talisman that hangs around our necks, with a side for PMA and a side for NMA (positive and negative mental attitude). It is our choice, throughout our lives, to use either side of the talisman.
I sat and really thought about this. In my ruminations, I discovered that this is a principle which we basically all know about, but we don’t have an idea how far reaching this premise really is.
When you start to really ‘listen’ to what you are saying to yourself all through a given day, you realize how innately negative your thinking is, even when you are a naturally positive person. Little things that that ‘voice inside your head’ says, that undermine you. Things like ‘That’ll never really work, so don’t even try’ or ‘here he comes, he’s going to say something nasty again and I’ll have to say something nasty back,’cos I’ve got to defend myself’ or’ I’m tired, I think I’ll take a nap and finish this work tomorrow’.
In the book they identify NMA as feelings of frustration, depression, defensiveness, self-pity, anger etc. I have come across so many people who consciously try to steer their thoughts in a positive direction, but don’t seem to ‘see’ the underlying little voice as a strong product of NMA.
I used to get frustrated and seem to be hitting my head against a brick wall, no matter how hard I tried. I got depressed when things went wrong and nothing seemed to be going where I thought it should. Now, I can ‘see’ that this is the NMA side of my talisman sneaking in while I’m not concentrating on the PMA side.
There is a strong quote in the book that says, “Direct your thoughts, Control your emotions and Ordain your destiny”.
I used to be resistant to ‘giving up control’ of my life. Turning it over to God and the Universe. I now know that taking control, by giving it over to God and the Universe is the ultimate form of control you can have over your passage through Life.
I urge you to
Direct your thoughts Control your emotions and Ordain your destiny.
Today!
Lisa van den Berg is the author of Alleviate Stress
How to WIN at the Game of Life!
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