We’ll now take a look at Thomas Jefferson and his thoughts on positive thinking:

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. President, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, and a leader. In this quote, Jefferson focused on the importance of one’s mindset to achieving success. Jefferson expressed that as long as a person has a positive “mental attitude,” he’ll continue to strive toward and achieve his goals.

Jefferson believed there’s power in one’s own mind and that being positive is the best way to release that power and benefit from it.

On the other hand, Jefferson acknowledged that a person who lacks a good mental attitude will be thwarted in his efforts to accomplish goals. No matter how hard he tries, if he’s not in a positive frame of mind, success will elude him.

A negative mind will never you a positive result!

How to Apply Thomas Jefferson’s Tip to Your Life

These strategies will help you maintain a positive mindset:

1. Use positive self-talk. You engage in a running dialog with yourself all day long. Take advantage of this natural tendency and encourage yourself by saying things you like to hear. Praise yourself for your accomplishments and say good things to yourself all day long. Soon, you’ll notice a positive change in your everyday thoughts as well.
2. Repeat affirmations. Reading and repeating affirmations will help you strengthen the qualities you wish to develop and even assist you in adopting new habits and qualities. If negative thoughts are a challenge for you, positive affirmations will help steer you away from them and replace them with positivity.
3. Practice meditation. Meditating will help you reduce the stress in your life, focus on moving forward toward your goals, and bring you serenity – all helpful steps for developing and maintaining a positive mindset.
4. Seek the silver lining. Even when things don’t go as planned, find something good in every situation. After a while, this technique will become a habit as you discover your new positivity.

Thinking positive not only makes life a lot more pleasant, it sets up an atmosphere around you that’s upbeat and encouraging to others and draws others toward you. When you think positively, you take the mental approach of, “I can achieve whatever I set my mind to.” This attitude sets you up for success!

Are you handling situations with a positive attitude?  Be optimistic that everything is going to work out and make a plan for it to work out!!  A key is to stop asking yourself, “Why did this happen to me?”, and start asking “Why did this happen for me?”

Are you a lover of art? Pablo Picasso had a strong tendency to take action, no matter what. That’s part of the reason he’s so well known. We’ll learn more in the next lesson.