I saw a very funny image this morning:
For those of you who don’t know it, the picture is a poke at this book. Believers may find the sentiment expressed above harsh, but it’s a new spin on an old bandwagon: positive thinking. In a nutshell, this cult claims that thinking positively about what you want gets you what you want.
Does it work? No. Focusing on what you want will of course increase your chances of getting it, because it focuses your efforts and actions. However, it has nothing to do with magical attraction. In addition, our minds tend to retroactively adapt to make us think that what we have is what we always wanted. Also, our minds are geared to identifying patterns, explaining why we see images and patterns in randomness. Therefore positive thinking is no more than a combination of purely practical results of focus combined with a misunderstanding of how our minds work.
So how can I say all this if I include positive thinking in what I teach? Because I don’t teach positive thinking “woo style”. Instead, I teach what science has shown to be true: it’s beneficial for us in many ways to focus on what’s good in our lives without denying what’s bad. A good example would be walking down the street yesterday, when I noticed for some reason over the weekend people had littered. I didn’t pretend it wasn’t there, but I didn’t say anything about it. Instead, I noticed the progress in the revamping of the T junction at the top of our road, which used to be a minor nightmare for cyclists and pedestrians as there was no traffic light. Now there’ll be a light, along with proper road markings, which is going to make life so much easier.
I know my town council is usually very good about keeping the place clean. I’ll be surprised if any of that litter remains by this afternoon. I’d be happier if people could learn not to litter, but then, I see that as part of a greater social numbness we’ve all fallen victim to. My response to this is to concentrate on developing my business and finishing my book, which are efforts towards combating this numbness (in my own small corner of the world; people everywhere are noticing and addressing this issue within their sphere of influence). If I start noticing my street is constantly dirty, I will trot around to the council office or write a letter, and I will state facts, not rant and rave. In that way, I acknowledge what’s wrong, I will address it if it’s not resolved as I expect it will be, and I do all of that in such a way that it doesn’t colour my entire world in greys.
To my mind, it’s a tragedy when people expend energy on stuff like The Secret. Why not rather take that energy and devote it to sound, science-based changes in your life which can be shown to bring results?
See more: The Chaser’s War on Everything take on The Secret.
