Mar 11, 2007 | 7:37 pm
The Myth of Positive Thinking
One of my favorite movies is The Music Man, in which Professor Harold Hill instructs students to play music just by thinking the music. The town is fascinated by the professor’s easy-method-to-results which in the end was nothing more than a get rich scheme. The Music Man was written about an era when alot of “positive thinking” artists were in vogue, including Napoleon Hill and Wallace Wattles. Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich, by the way, was the foundation for the film The Secret.
Last night on Get Real with Bill Maher, Deepak Chopra said, “Positive thinking is one of the most stressful things you can do.” So why is The Secret, which professes positive thinking, so popular?
I believe positive thinking gives people the idea that simply by thinking about what they want in their lives that they will get it. As much as I want to believe, I can’t disagree any more. If really thinking about what you want was all it took, no one would want for any more. I think of a child in Nigeria who was born with AIDS, now without a mother, father, food, water, shelter. Can this child simply “think” about a positive future and get it? And why would I think I have any better chance to think my way to a better future?
Granted, I understand that the law of attraction is often a first step to acheive goals and dreams. And I also know that if I just sit and think positively, I won’t accomplish anything. It is my responsibility to put in motion, to enact, to do the things I want.
What would you rather do? Think positive or live positive? By taking an action I can hike a mountain or send out a resume or meditate. I can also dance, sing, work, produce. I can do the things in life that truly make me happy and ultimately I will wind up, well…thinking positive.
As your coach I will help you develop an action plan that will help you bring your goals and dreams to fulfillment.
Truly Yours, Joseph