Have you noticed how you feel when you're around positive people? You feel uplifted, refreshed and energised. You learn that life is what you make it and that you make your own 'luck'. Consequently the opposite is true when you're unfortunate to be with negative people. They drain your energy, are usually unhappy and seem to attract sickness and misfortune in their lives.
Gail's Story
Gail is a friend of mine and she was relating to me for the hundredth time about the situation her brother was in. Gary is a nice enough guy. He's hardworking, honest and a good father. His only flaw is that he is extremely negative. After a five minute conversation with him, you feel like you've been hit by a bus. He has the knack of sapping up your energy due to his negativity.
It's interesting how Gary's life has turned out. He has owned a number of businesses and none of them have been successful. He constantly gets sick and so do his two children. He's been married twice and is nearly ready to tie the knot again. What he doesn't realise is that he's the problem and that it doesn't matter how many times he gets married, his attitude will follow him and continue to create challenges in his life until he works on himself.
Gary blames all his woes on everyone and everything else except himself. He also has a couple of very negative friends whom he loves being around which doesn't help him whatsoever as they all commiserate with each other. As the saying goes 'misery loves company'.
Gary has never done any personal development and when you bring that up with him he always scoffs at the idea believing that he doesn't need it.
Gail has tried to get Gary to see the light and do some work on himself yet he refuses to listen. As I've often said to Gail, you cannot change Gary yet you can change your behaviour.
Instead of listening to him moan and groan about how hard life is, perhaps it was time she told him the honest truth and offer some solutions to him at the same time. If he takes no action, then she'd be best to spend as little time as possible around him otherwise she will continue to be affected by his negative attitude.
A Negative Attitude - The Reasons Many People Are Poor
In the newsletter, The Trident, written by well-known professional investor Lance Spicer ,there was an article which illustrated why many negative people are poor.
Briefly, he received a letter from a lady stating that she had been sent the wrong order. His company immediately sent the correct book and a note apologising and asking that the book be returned and they would pay all costs for its return.
Apparently there was still a problem so Lance decided to contact the woman himself. Here's the rest of the story…
"I asked if she had received the correct book and she had. So I asked, "what's the problem?". Her response was predictable. She said she was worried that she wouldn't receive her book and that she had been ripped off before and was suspicious of us. She had decided that we would pay for everybody else's sins. I explained, "You were sent a $60 book instead of a $30 book, so you were in front".
She replied, "What am I going to do with a book on investment? You have to have money to invest in the first place!" It was a reply that said it all. Unfortunately, this woman was a stereotype, I have met or spoken to people like her many times. They are often middle-aged, cranky with the world, broke and to cap it all off, have a closed mind. Why? Well, it's a bit of a mystery to me.
This woman was obviously upset that she had no money, but because of her closed mind, she didn't want to learn about investing or investments. I thought "What makes people like her tick?" My conclusion was … "negativity" .
Being negative and feeling sorry for yourself is a good way of remaining poor. The one thing I have noticed about wealthy and successful people is that they have exactly the opposite attitude to this woman. They are happy, positive, think laterally, never accept failure, have great determination and an insatiable appetite for information.
These people were like this before they became wealthy. They have become wealthy because of their attitude and their approach to life. You become wealthy because you think like a winner. You won't make it financially unless you have a positive attitude! www.tridentpress.com.au
The Final Word
Working on your own self development is the best investment you could ever make. It needs to be continuous. I often hear people say, I did all that stuff years ago or (and I just love this one) I’m too busy!
Self development is not something you can gain in one course or one year, it is a continual journey. Stifle your growth, you'll stifle your life. However if you keep growing, you'll expand your horizons and with the knowledge you gain about yourself and implement, you can only be a better person.
In my regular Event Update, a wide variety of personal and professional development seminars and workshops are advertised. One in particular that we’ve promoted is Chris Howard’s Breakthrough to Success. We were able to secure FREE tickets for subscribers as advertised. This event was held Australiawide. Did you bother to take up this opportunity?
You see if you’re green you’re growing, if you’re ripe you’re rotten. As mentioned in our last newsletter if you don’t get better, you’ll get worse. So what are you prepared to do to get better? The choice is yours.
Have a great week
Lorraine Pirihi
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About The Author
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"
To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au
loraine@office-organiser.com.au
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This article was posted on August 19, 2005
