Positive Thinking Mindset
By: Dr. Gordon Jones
Dr. Gordon Jones
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Teacher, Author, Speaker | Fin.Health.Web3 Tech | Business Development & Strategy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgordonjones/
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” —Jim Carrey
You must have laughed your lungs out while watching the comedy movies of Jim Carrey. I have. Carrey is a Canadian American actor famous for his evergreen movie Dumb and Dumber (amongst many others). Can you imagine that an actor well known for making people laugh was once fighting depression?
Carrey has battled with depression and low-level despair for years. In an interview, he opened up frankly about his experience with the depression medication, Prozac. Carrey expressed, “It feels like a low level of despair that you’re in. You’re not getting any answers, but you’re living okay and smiling at the office…but it’s a low level of despair.” Carrey realized that although Prozac was helpful in the short term, it was no more helping him in the long run, so he stopped taking it.
He also eliminated all other drugs, alcohol, and even coffee from his routine. He indulged himself in spirituality to generate positive energy within himself. For Carrey, religion became a trench for his mental suffering. He once stated: “I’m a Buddhist, I’m a Christian, I’m a Muslim… I am whatever you want me to be. It all comes down to whether you are in a loving place or an unloving place. When you are with me, you can’t help but be happy.”
How his positive mindset made him win the battle against depression is a remarkable example of willpower and determination. If Carrey could overcome his depression by changing his mindset, what can stop us? We only need to be committed to ourselves. Taking control of ourselves is the key to a positive lifestyle. We cannot buy positive thinking from any superstore. We need to work on our mindset to generate the positive energy within us as Carrey has in his life.
It is a mental exercise, and it requires persistence and willpower. The first and foremost step towards developing a positive mindset is to commit that...
WE ALL NEED TO CREATE OURSELVES.
A purpose-driven life is mandatory because any outsider cannot persuade us to be positive and follow the right path. We can have faith but we must do it ourselves, and we can start by bringing little changes into our lives. For instance, we can start every day with a positive affirmation. Considering every day as a new opportunity can help us improve our lives. For me, it's reading the Bible and other non-fiction historical biographies.
We must also forget the past; regret is nothing but a waste of time. Absolutely, we should learn from our past both successes and failures, but if we relive our mistakes from the past we can never move forward. Nor can we control our futures; we can only strive to improve our present condition which will eventually have a positive effect on our future.
Failure hits our egos to the core. Do you blame external factors? Do you try to hide that you failed? A majority of us find it very difficult to accept failure or defeat. One of the best ways to embrace failure is to take it as a learning process.
Consider the example of J.K. Rowling who is also known as the “Billionaire Author.” The author of the famous fictional series Harry Potter was a single parent who lived on government assistance for years. She wrote the manuscript for the first Harry Potter book on a manual typewriter. More than twelve publishers rejected her manuscript. When it was finally accepted, it paid Rowling only £1,500. Even after all the rejections and underestimations, she carried on working on the idea of magic and the wizarding world. Her failures and rejections enhanced her passion even more.
Today, Rowling is known as the richest author in the world with a net worth greater than the Queen of England (Rowling is English). If you were an average Joe in Rowling’s place, what would you do? Would you have quit trying after all those rejections? Most of the time our egos don’t let us explore the learning opportunity in our failures. Embracing failure as enlightenment can help us build a positive life. Just as external factors such as environment and people can pull us down, as Carrey illustrated, surrounding ourselves with positive people and mentors and an optimistic approach to life can lift us up when we lose hope.
If you ever want to talk with me directly just reach out via LinkedIn or through our mobile community app, Createyourself.com
Have a great week, Gordon
Credit: Dr. Gordon Jones