As you begin a new year, it’s time to reevaluate your goals and habits. What do you want to achieve in the year ahead? What do you want to change about yourself? How do you want your life to look at this time next year?
I think one of the most important things you can do to improve your life in 2019 is make a commitment to feeding your mind positivity and enthusiasm.
Let’s face it, we’re surrounded by cynicism and negativity.
“If it bleeds, it leads,” the saying goes, and news headlines are always pointing out the worst in humanity. News programs and talk shows are always ranting about how bad things are and how much worse they’re destined to get.
Pop culture is more negative and cynical than ever before. A recent study proved that pop music has gotten consistently angrier and sadder over the last few decades.
Simply watching a game on TV, you’ll soon find yourself bombarded by ads for shows, pills, and products that feed your mind fears and doubts. This is because marketers know all too well that fear sells products better than any other emotion.
How do you protect yourself from all this negativity?
First, you have to be aware of all the negativity trying to infiltrate your mind.
Most people don’t realize just how much negativity they’re surrounded by and they let others dictate what they should think. Winners aren’t like most people. They make the conscious effort to think differently. If you passively allow whatever is “out there” to invade your mindset, you’ll lose the fight before it even begins.
Once you realize you must consciously fight to protect your mindset from negativity, you then must take charge of what you allow into it. While you can’t shut yourself off from all the negativity you’re surrounded by, you can combat that negativity with positivity.
You have to take control of what you feed your mind.
You have to feed your mind books that empower you with stories of faith, hope, courage, and character.
You have to feed your mind movies and shows that showcase the best in humanity. Sports and underdog stories of resilience and grit are perfect for this. (I grew up on Rocky movies and recommend them highly.)
You have to feed your mind positive music. Our cynical culture likes to smirk at the never-back-down anthems that were popular in the ‘80s, the happy-go-lucky oldies from the ‘50s and early ‘60s, and the focus-on-the-bright-side classics that made Frank Sinatra a legend, but listen to the lyrics from some of the most popular songs of past eras and you’ll notice an empowering, positive theme. Certainly, there are some new bands choosing to carry on the torch of courage and positivity and they should make up the majority of your playlist.
The key is to be proactive and resilient about protecting your mindset. Cynical lyrics can seep into your mind without you even realizing it. Morning news headlines can break down your feelings of hope before the day even begins. Fictional characters become people you instinctively start to model, which is it’s so important to choose positive movies and books.
One of the most efficient ways to feed your mind positivity is to make sure the last thing you read each night before falling asleep is something positive and inspirational. Studies show that the last thing you read at night can dramatically affect your quality of sleep and your outlook the next morning.
What you feed your mind tends to become your reality. Make a commitment today to feed your mind positivity and enthusiasm this year and beyond.
