32 thoughts on “Question of the Day – No. 78

  1. Repetitive. “Act enthusiastic and you’ll BE enthusiastic!” Sometimes it’s criminally difficult to push past the Neuro chemistry and be chipper. What I need (and use) are tools to reset my thinking – not mental pop-pom waving cheerleaders.

    1. “not mental pop-pom waving cheerleaders” – I love that! I totally understand. Btw, how do you think that my blog is placed on this tools – cheerleaders scale?

      1. I tend to look at your blog as a tool for “why” I have cettain values, and then what do I want to do with them. Fewer cheetleaders, more of a friendly and rational voice.

  2. I think a lot of them make good points. Our bodies respond better to positive thoughts rather than negative. We are healthier and happier when we are positive. That being said, they are not a substitute for medical assistance if someone’s symptoms of depression or anxiety is severe. But, positive thinking essentially promotes cognitive behaviour therapy which can be a good compliment along side of medical treatment, if such treatment is necessary.

    1. I agree. I think that the technique used in those books is also very important in sending the message.

  3. I don’t believe a book can “teach” us how to think positively. We can gain inspiration from literature and passages but positive thinking requires us to change our whole mindset. It is a practice that takes time and patience. A mental workout of sorts!

  4. i feel like the books can give as much advice as they want, most people just end up doing what they want to do, inspite of who tells them what. i feel like these books can sometimes get preachy or even unrealistic. but a little positivity now and then is always a good thing!

    1. That’s true. People do whatever they want, but if the books make a fair point, they might think about it…

      1. I agree. A book isn’t going to change the mindset, but it might spark the desire for us to start that change.

  5. I think positive thinking books could quite possibly jump-start positive thinking…
    But, I also know that every single one of us has built-in inner speech.
    If we’re fortunate it’s positive. If we’re unfortunate it’s negative, and that’s a mountain to traverse that no book can help.

    For the most part, inner speech is shaped thusly:
    Imagine adults going ‘round with great big highlighters and highlighting things a child might experience. Whatever gets highlighted, is reinforced.
    The problem with highlighting a child’s behavior, is that adults tend to judge a child’s behavior. This judgement (or highlighting) creates their inner speech.
    The thing is, adults are particularly good at highlighting “bad” behavior.
    However well meant these intentions to highlight are, if all that’s being pointed out is what’s wrong with the child’s behavior the child can only focus on what’s “wrong” or “bad” about who she is.
    Consider this, brains are pattern seeking. So if all that’s ever been highlighted in a child’s brain is negative that’s where the focus is.

    I think this is the point of your positive thinking books…to ‘highlight’ the “ah ah!” moments, the “I did it!” moments. To highlight when accomplishments and joys. The thing about these books is, it may sound good while you’re reading, and you may have the best intentions…but oftentimes trying to put those positive thinking thoughts into action isn’t successful and negative inner speech can come back with a fury. With simple examples of how unsuccessful the positive thinking was the negativity is further reinforced.

    Yeah, that was a long way round to say this: I think positive thinking begins and ends in you. The positive thinking books are probably irrelevant.

    1. Interesting point of view. Actually, I’m preparing a post about this “highlight” which is actually activating the same brain cells over and over again because there are some patterns already created. When we think in a certain way, the connection between those cells gets stronger and stronger and the pattern gets harder to break. I do understand the purpose of all these positive thinking books, but I think they are more orientated on the bigger picture (how beautiful the life can be if we have a positive mindset), but we actually need help on a daily basis with almost every thought we have. We need to start small, one thought at a time.

  6. I think they are pretty good cause they cause me to reflect… To think about how I reason and if necessary, pushes me to make a change.

      1. I think that would have been “Everyone communicates, few connect” by John Maxwell…
        And it really pushed me to make changes.

  7. Many people learn by repetition, so although someone said they are repetitive, I believe it’s actually a good thing if they are. Of course reading a positive thinking book won’t change our attitude and/or your life over night, but if you read the same thing 100 times, some of it might actually make it’s way to our subconscious mind 😉
    Ps. Hello and thanks for following

  8. Books promoting positive outlook can be good in general.

    But the hype it has sometimes as the ultimate solution can feel condescending.

    Sometimes life brings about some situations where there just is no ounce of positivity.

    Recently, I remember Person A was talking about a painful life situation and Person B confidently said “oh, don’t fret, just be positive, it’s all about the mind” —— sure, being upbeat helps, but when someone is going through a bad situation I think it is ok to be sad and go through the low phase instead of having positivity shoved down the throat.

    My two cents 🙂

    1. Yes, I totally agree with this. It’s very ok to be sad as long as we realize it’s a moment that will pass. In my opinion, they key is not to make it sadder than it actually is.

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