Use Other People’s Negativity to Power Your Own Success

Your parents didn’t believe in you. Your boss thinks you’re a loser. Heck, your spouse can’t remember why she/he/they married you. How can you possibly succeed without someone to believe in you? That’s easy: believe in yourself.

Write this down...

I can do anything I set my mind to do.

Imagine that your spouse says, “You will never get in shape. You’ve been talking about getting in shape for nine years, and you have never lasted more than two weeks on any exercise routine.”

Your spouse is right, of course.

But this time, harness that negativity. Focus upon it as a compacted energy source, and keep it close to your heart, like Iron Man does. (That’s a comic book reference; if you hate comic books, please don’t let this slow you down.)

If your desire to be fit isn’t enough to motivate you, take your spouse’s skepticism and use that. Or take your boss’s lack of faith in you, and make that your power source.

The first three weeks will be challenging, no doubt; you’ve tried before to acquire this new habit, and have fallen short. But this time, you have a new approach. Not everyone thrives on internal discipline. Some of us need external motivation to get us operating at full power.

After three weeks of pursuing a new goal, you will have established a new habit. For example, the first three weeks you go to a gym to lift weights or spin, you may feel like a weak and frail human being—but by Day 21, you’ll feel new strength in your limbs. Instead of dreading the gym, you’ll look forward to your visits.

The same goes for virtually anything. When you first try to master a new subject, you may feel like an imposter…but with practice and discipline, you will eventually feel confident and competent.

This part is important: don’t ever tell your negative, cynical associates about your new initiative. They will just double down with negativity. Instead, zip your mouth shut and secretly use their negativity to power your efforts. Don’t say a word until your new strength is impossible for them to ignore.

Turn negativity into personal power.