Can You be Too Positive?

One piece of advice that is given about the power of positive thinking is “Look on the bright side.” There is no denying that bad things will happen to you. Your life experiences are not always in your control.

What is under your control is your reaction to the situation or event. The simple five word saying above is telling you to choose positive thinking over becoming swamped in negative emotions when life doesn’t go your way.

That can be good advice but taken to an extreme, it can also be dangerous.

Your self-talk and limiting beliefs are the two main things that can hold you back.

You can try to fix these by yourself or you can work with a Life Coach.

This short video talks to these points and offers you a solution.

https://vimeo.com/800646997

You can contact me to book the call mentioned in the video at

https://calendly.com/michael-coach/strategy-session

If you want to find out more about the Self-talk Program, and register before talking to me, you can do so at the website Self-talk Program

Usually, positive thinking is a good thing. Successful people became successful and didn’t get to where they are now by thinking negative thoughts consistently. The danger from positive thinking comes when it becomes a zero-sum game.

When this happens, it is called toxic positivity. You don’t accept any painful or difficult experiences; you just think positive and keep going. You are told to keep a positive mindset no matter how tough the situation is that you are in. Following are some reasons why this toxic positivity, as opposed to empowering, rational, positive thinking can cause you to experience serious problems in your life.

You ignore reality when you have toxic positivity.

Imagine, somehow, you have fallen into a deep hole. It doesn’t matter how this happened, just that you are now in the bottom of a really deep hole.

You are in the middle of nowhere and your plan of experiencing Mother Nature has turned bad. No matter how hard and loud you scream, no one can hear you.

You sit and console yourself that you were on a nature trail when the ground gave out. Because of your toxic positivity, you believe that someone will be along soon to rescue you.

You know that there are wild animals in the area and that this is not a well-travelled trail. You chose it because of that fact. You wanted to spend some alone time in the wild. You also, unfortunately, didn’t bring any food, water or other equipment.

Despite all of this, you settle down comfortably and wait patiently for the rescue that will inevitably come for you.

In this situation, your ignorance of the dire circumstance you are in could lead to your demise. With toxic positivity, you will probably have a smile on your face as well.

Instead of toxic positivity, choose positive and realistic thinking.

If you are a positive thinker, you say that you can get out of the situation. You tell yourself that it may look difficult right now, but by using your head and keeping your wits about you, you will figure a way out.

The person with this way of thinking begins to dig, climb and do whatever he can to make the situation better. He thinks positively and realistically. He knows that he can’t just sit back and hope for the best but he has to attack the situation aggressively right away.

Embracing negative thinking is not what is being advocated. Negative thinking is a very quick path to living a life full of self-doubt, failure and resentment. This is just an alert to point out to you the dangers of toxic positivity. When negative events and emotions occur, you must embrace them, deal with them and then move on. You will not have the best outcome when you ignore reality or negative situations.

To work together to help you get moving in the right direction in your life, click on the blue button below to book a 45-minute, no obligation “Get to know you” call.Going alone on creating a better life is difficult. Find out how working with a Life Coach can make the journey to success and a better life easier.