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Be A Negative Optimist
- By Brian Tracy
- Published 04/30/2009
- Entrepreneurs
Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy is CEO of Brian Tracy International, specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Much of his self-help material is based on the works of other success training leaders such as Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn and Denis Waitley. He launched the online Brian Tracy University primarily for entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals.
View all articles by Brian Tracy
The most important quality for success in entrepreneurship and in life is the quality of optimism.
Optimists have an unrealistic expectation of success. As a result, they are willing to try far more things without becoming discouraged.
In addition, because of their unrealistically positive attitude, they are willing to persist much longer than the average person.
Optimism is a wonderful quality as long as you have it under control.
Temper Your Optimism
In order to be successful in business, and in any activity where your money is involved, you must temper your optimism with negativism.
You must be enthusiastic about the possible upside of the investment but you must be skeptical, critical, suspicious and demanding about all the different ways that your money can be lost.
Listen to Negative Viewpoints
Seek out and listen carefully to people who are negative toward your idea. Look for negative thinkers, because their viewpoints can be invaluable and save you a fortune in time and money.
I have a friend who is a lawyer. And he recommends and gives advice to many people on investments.
And what he does is this. When someone comes and they want to make an investment that he's unsure about, he says, all right, I want you to come to my office and I want you to sit behind my desk.
And then I'm going to come in and I'm going to present this investment to you and I want you to critique this investment as if you were me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Science of Positive Focus
"Positive Focus will create the life you want to live!"
Negative people are like human black holes. They drain your energy and keep you from reaching your goals.
With negative people around -- it's easy to forget what you really want.
Would you like to know how you can stay positive, energized, and powerful?
If you do... You need The Science of Positive Focus.
After listening to the program, you will know how to eliminate the negativity that keeps you down and be able to create supreme focus on what is most important to you -- YOUR future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help Others to Evaluate Honestly
And he says that when his clients begin critiquing the investments they're thinking about going into, when they begin becoming negative thinkers about the investments, he says they are astonished at how bad the investments really are.
He said he has saved his clients millions of dollars by forcing them to be negative thinkers about their own ideas, simply by switching roles and sitting in front of the desk while they sit behind the desk.
Keep Your Mind Open
But don't be overly influenced by negative thinkers. Just take their viewpoints into consideration.
There's a famous story of Mary Hudson, who started off with 200 dollars in the middle of the Depression and leased a gas station that two men had gone broke running at two different occasions.
And from that she built a company called Hudson Oil, which is now the biggest independent distributor of gas and oil in the United States.
From a 200 dollar investment, even though everybody told her she would fail.
So remember, listen to negative thinkers, but don't necessarily accept their advice.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to get these ideas into action.
First, view your idea as if you were an outside consultant.
Ask, "What are all of the possible risks or flaws in this cause of action?"
Second, seek out the opinions of others. Listen without responding or defending.
Thank them for their input. They may save you a lot of money.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Start Your Own High Profit Business Package
Includes: 300-Page Book & Two 60-Minute CDs
"Discover the Secret to Starting Your Own High Profit Business!"
If you want to start your own business... If you want to avoid the mistakes that so many businesses make... If you want to make high profits...
This package will show you how.
Over the past 30 years I've coached thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business.
I've taught them how to avoid the common business pitfalls, and how to make profits soar.
Now I'm revealing these secrets in one super business package.
**************
Related Talent Development Resources post:
Positive Psychology Books Say Happiness is a Key to Thriving.
Related site: The Inner Entrepreneur
Optimists have an unrealistic expectation of success. As a result, they are willing to try far more things without becoming discouraged.
In addition, because of their unrealistically positive attitude, they are willing to persist much longer than the average person.
Optimism is a wonderful quality as long as you have it under control.
Temper Your Optimism
In order to be successful in business, and in any activity where your money is involved, you must temper your optimism with negativism.
You must be enthusiastic about the possible upside of the investment but you must be skeptical, critical, suspicious and demanding about all the different ways that your money can be lost.
Listen to Negative Viewpoints
Seek out and listen carefully to people who are negative toward your idea. Look for negative thinkers, because their viewpoints can be invaluable and save you a fortune in time and money.
I have a friend who is a lawyer. And he recommends and gives advice to many people on investments.
And what he does is this. When someone comes and they want to make an investment that he's unsure about, he says, all right, I want you to come to my office and I want you to sit behind my desk.
And then I'm going to come in and I'm going to present this investment to you and I want you to critique this investment as if you were me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Science of Positive Focus
"Positive Focus will create the life you want to live!" Negative people are like human black holes. They drain your energy and keep you from reaching your goals.
With negative people around -- it's easy to forget what you really want.
Would you like to know how you can stay positive, energized, and powerful?
If you do... You need The Science of Positive Focus.
After listening to the program, you will know how to eliminate the negativity that keeps you down and be able to create supreme focus on what is most important to you -- YOUR future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help Others to Evaluate Honestly
And he says that when his clients begin critiquing the investments they're thinking about going into, when they begin becoming negative thinkers about the investments, he says they are astonished at how bad the investments really are.
He said he has saved his clients millions of dollars by forcing them to be negative thinkers about their own ideas, simply by switching roles and sitting in front of the desk while they sit behind the desk.
Keep Your Mind Open
But don't be overly influenced by negative thinkers. Just take their viewpoints into consideration.
There's a famous story of Mary Hudson, who started off with 200 dollars in the middle of the Depression and leased a gas station that two men had gone broke running at two different occasions.
And from that she built a company called Hudson Oil, which is now the biggest independent distributor of gas and oil in the United States.
From a 200 dollar investment, even though everybody told her she would fail.
So remember, listen to negative thinkers, but don't necessarily accept their advice.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to get these ideas into action.
First, view your idea as if you were an outside consultant.
Ask, "What are all of the possible risks or flaws in this cause of action?"
Second, seek out the opinions of others. Listen without responding or defending.
Thank them for their input. They may save you a lot of money.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Start Your Own High Profit Business Package
Includes: 300-Page Book & Two 60-Minute CDs
"Discover the Secret to Starting Your Own High Profit Business!"
If you want to start your own business... If you want to avoid the mistakes that so many businesses make... If you want to make high profits...
This package will show you how.
Over the past 30 years I've coached thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business.
I've taught them how to avoid the common business pitfalls, and how to make profits soar.
Now I'm revealing these secrets in one super business package.
**************
Related Talent Development Resources post:
Positive Psychology Books Say Happiness is a Key to Thriving.
Related site: The Inner Entrepreneur