The Power of Positive Thoughts & Positive Thinking [Examples]

What are positive thoughts? What is positive thinking? Why does it work and why is it so powerful? In this article you will discover the power of positive thinking about yourself, situations and others.

Guest contribution by Niels van Solkie.nl

Positive thinking works

Positive thinking leads to a positive approach to business and that leads to positive results.

A good example is the survey in a car factory, where a number of work teams were asked to identify the positive, strongest aspects of employees. The results were shared both individually and in the group. Then two teams were allowed to redistribute the tasks, based on each person’s qualities. After six months, it turned out that the productivity of those two shifts had increased 50% compared to the other shifts.

So positive thinking works, but why don’t we?

What is positive & negative thinking? Then we must first know what is positive & negative …

There are three ways to approach things.

• Positive
• Negative
• Completely neutral

The latter sounds simple, but turns out to be quite difficult in practice. Because we all carry our upbringing, beliefs, experiences and thoughts with us. And that always colors our perception.

Try to think neutrally about something like war. Or about eating from a fast food chain – when things and events are not good or bad in themselves. It is the value we attach to it.

Most teenagers have their mouths watering when they think of a hamburger with fries. People who consciously want to eat healthy or animal-friendly food detest this thought. What one thinks is good, another thinks bad. What used to be very normal, we find nowadays no longer possible.

Think of bloodletting in the Middle Ages or more recently: smoking indoors in the presence of children. What was once good is now bad.

But do good and bad exist?

What you think is up to you … but we often think negatively

If neutral thinking is next to impossible, there are two options left: negative thinking and positive thinking. After all, thoughts don’t happen to you; you are there yourself .

But once you are in a negative spiral of thoughts, your thoughts can run away with you. Fear rules and you also act on it. You will seek confirmation for your negative thoughts and you will always find them. And with that you strengthen the negative belief.

The reason many people tend to think negatively is that it provides some form of security. If we only assume the worst, then it can only be better than expected.

Negative thinking is also stimulated by others. Watch an average news broadcast and try to keep thinking positively. Yet you are the one who determines that.

Positive thinking is contagious, so it’s not that  difficult either

As soon as you know how to convert the button to positive thinking and approach things positively, something happens. You will feel better, happier and more optimistic. Because you also radiate that, others will also respond more positively to you.

Positive thinking means thinking in terms of possibilities and that leads to creation. Other people like that and are attracted to the energy it produces.

When you consider that good and bad do not exist, but both are values ​​we attach to things, you can always opt for the positive.

Do you tend to label something as bad or negative? Then try to approach it differently. Turn it over, look at it from the other side and look for the positive aspect.

How can you apply positive thinking in your work? 2 important tips

If good and bad do not really exist and you can always choose between negative and positive, then it is worthwhile to get started with this in the workplace.

• Rather than focusing on what’s going wrong? Rather specify what is going well and who is doing what well.
• Instead of investing in reducing absenteeism? Investing in the happiness of all those employees who are there. Put energy into people’s qualities, so that they do work that empowers them.

As the research in the car factory showed: if you are allowed to do what you are good at and what you enjoy, the result will come naturally.