If you over the age of 30 you may think of this when you think of positive thinking:
This is not what I am talking about doing to change our negative thought patterns.
Negative thinking is the opposite of good news. Negative thinking is bad news and bad new spreads fast. Consider how you started today. What were your first thoughts? Were they ” I have to deal with…” or ” I can’t stand…” . Did you begin with a complaint or a praise?
In my last post, I talked about detecting and containing the negative virus. If we’re serious about this, we’ll begin with ourselves. Do a thought/word check:
How often do I think negatively about others?
How often do I speak negatively about others?
How often do I think and speak negatively about myself or God?
Our outlook on life and faith determines whether we move our teams forward and lead them well.
I love St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer, because the prayer is declarative. It is a prayer spoken in the now, it declares what is true, and it does not ask God for anything, it declares what is true about God and Patrick follows. Patrick says five times “I arise today”. Patrick decided what his day would be like based on what God had already done for him and what God believed about him. He did not throw his life to the wind, but trusted what the Word of God said about him. We can do the same.
Before I get up to preach or lead I must believe the best about those I lead, the best about myself and my abilities, and the best about who God is and His plan for my life. If we do not begin with preaching the good news to ourselves, we only sabotage our future leadership efforts.
Now, enjoy some reggae with Eddy Grant. It’s sure to put you in a positive mood.Then spread that positivity around mon’.
How has negative thoughts impacted your ability to lead others? What do you speak over yourself to get in the right frame of mind to lead or speak?