The Power of Conscious Positivity

Two things are true.

First, most of the time we operate from the unconscious. We move through the day reacting to things around us. We are not present. We are not intentional.

This is not a judgement. It just is what it is. Most of our day is full of us executing habits without thought. This is unconscious operation.

Second, each of us has a negative voice inside our head.

The voice is known by many names:

The Critic.

The Judge.

The Fear Voice.

The Gremlin.

This voice is a natural part of our psychology, and its purpose is to keep us safe.

Sometimes the voice keeps us from taking risks and doing stupid things (this voice is dampened during puberty).

Most of the time, it prevents us from growth and achievement.

With these two facts, we have a recipe for mediocrity and unfulfillment.

I mean, we tend to operate unconsciously, and we have a resident critic inside our minds… What could go wrong?

Well, when we are unconsciously reacting negatively to the world around us, we lose sight of opportunities. We don’t take that leap. We don’t have that difficult conversation. We stay exactly who we are… and that is lame.

In this article I am going to teach you how to leverage the power of a conscious positivity to stop negative thinking and help you achieve more.

Let’s roll!

Unconscious Negativity

Let’s talk about our natural defaults.

First off, our brains are wired to recognize threats and opportunities.

Dopamine, serotonin, corticosteroids, epinephrine, and more neurotransmitters all operate in the brain to signal whether something is a threat or an opportunity and then move us to action.

We don’t have to think about it.

We perceive.

We feel.

We react.

This is one reason why dopamine detoxes are the latest rage. Dopamine is a powerful motivator and we get tricked into chasing more by scrolling on social media… unintentionally, I might add.

We also have two voices in our heads. I wrote more about this topic in this article (How to Push Past Fear)

The Critic and Advocate.

The Saboteur and Sage.

The Fear Voice and the Faith Voice.

I like to call them the Opponent and the Ideal.

The negative voice is the one that keeps us safe… Safely in our comfort zone.

The positive voice is that of our ideal future self, rooting for us to do more and be more.

Unfortunately, our brains are wired to be way better being negative. We are wired to recognize threats even when there are none.

Have you ever jumped at seeing a snake, only to realize it was a stick?

When we operate unconsciously, we are more likely to honor the negative voice at the expense of the positive one, because it tends to be stronger.

Knowing this is typically our natural default, we can leverage this information to turn ourselves into positive, growing, achieving machines.

We need conscious positivity… and we can achieve it in just two steps.

Step into the Conscious

In order to make progress, we must become conscious.

We use other words for this too:

• Present
• Mindful
• Aware

To create the future we want, we must be purposeful and aware. No one created their ideal future by just reacting all day.

So how do we do this?

With intention.

When we have intention, we pay attention.

Let me repeat for emphasis:

When we have intention, we pay attention.

And guess how we create intention… we pay attention.

This is not circular reasoning. Hear me out.

To be more intentional, you need to take time.

Take a moment before jumping into a conversation or moving into a task.

Pay attention to how you are feeling and what you are thinking.

Consciously move those thoughts and feelings aside for a moment and pay attention to what you want.

What do you want to achieve in the next conversation?

How hard do you want to push yourself during the next exercise?

How many pages do you want to write in your manuscript?

You get the point.

When we take a moment to pay attention, we can create intention.

When we bring that intention to the next moment, we can pay attention to how we are:

• Feeling
• Reacting
• Impacting
• Performing

This intention pulls us out of unconscious reaction and into purpose and focus.

Step 1 achieved.

Now it is time for step 2.

Intentional Positivity

Even when we are intentional about being present and aware, our negative internal voices will still be present.

Remember, this is a normal part of our psychology.

But the negative voice stops all creativity. It holds us back from crossing obstacles. We do not persevere through difficulty.

To move from the negative into the positive, we must again take time and create intention.

Take a moment and pull your mind out of the negative feelings and stories.

Act as if you are viewing your feelings as an external observer. Notice that you are not your feelings.

Then set an intention to think positively.

A quick note: this does not mean “feel happy.”

Happiness and positivity are different.

Happiness is a feeling. Positivity is a frame of mind.

OK, so set the intention to create a positive frame of mind.

When you notice your negative voice popping up, take a moment and ask these questions:

• “Is it true?” This question is from Byron Katie’s ‘The Work.’ Most of the time, the negative voice is not true… but sometimes it is. Sometimes you do suck at communicating. Sometimes, the voice is just talking shit. Regardless, this influences the answers to the second question.
• “What is the opportunity, here?” Every problem gives you an opportunity to grow. If you are facing a challenge, you probably need new skills to overcome it. Hooray! This is an opportunity.
• “What is the most impactful action I can take?” We can’t think our way out of problems. This is not Sudoku. Action is needed. With a positive mindset, your mind can create a list of possible actions you can take to solve your problem.

Intentional positivity puts you in a disposition of opportunity. It enables your creativity. If shows you the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Wrap Up

Let me add in a twist before we wrap up.

Negativity is not bad. It just is. What we do about it is up to us. Also, we can leverage negative thinking to enhance our performance as well.

I wrote about that topic here (The Power of Negative Thinking)

BUT… when we are unconsciously negative AND allowing that to stop our progress, then we need to make an adjustment.

That adjustment is conscious positivity.

First, set your intention on how you want to show up.

Then, when you hear the negative voice chime in, acknowledge the voice as the critic.

Finally, ask yourself questions from a positive viewpoint.

You’ve got this.

Go be intentional and crush it.

Thanks for reading.

Clark