The Power of Positive and Negative Thinking

I know you've heard of the power of positive thinking, but what about the power of negative thinking? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Appojey production. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Building Better Humans Project Podcast. Welcome, be motivated and
be inspired.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Let's go Welcome back to The Building Better Humans Project podcast,
the show designed to help you build the strongest, smartest,
and most resilient version of yourself. I'm your host, Glena's Aaron.
Today we're diving into something powerful, something that sits at
the core of mindset, performance and potential positive thinking, negative thinking,

(00:40):
and how both, yes, both can be used to your advantage.
This isn't just another think positive pep talk. It's about
understanding the full spectrum of your thoughts, about using both
light and shadow to forge the best version of yourself.
So let's go deep. Now we've all heard it, just
think positive, and there's truth in it. Science backs it up.
Positive thinking has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety,

(01:03):
improve immune function in life satisfaction, and boost motivation and creativity.
When you hold a positive mindset, you're more solution oriented.
You see challenges, but you're not paralyzed by them. You
believe you can grow, You have hope. But here's the twist,
blind positivity. Toxic positivity can be dangerous when you ignore

(01:25):
real problems or refuse to feel negative emotions because everything
must be good. You disconnect from the truth, and growth
lives in truth. You've got to feel it to heal it.
Suppressing pain under a smiley faced mask only leads to
breakdowns later. Positive thinking works best when it's grounded realistic optimism.

(01:46):
It says, this is tough, but I believe I can
get through it. Now, let's flip it. Negative thinking generally
gets a bad rap, but hear me out. Negative thoughts
are like emotional alarms. They warn you. They say you
need to prepare, you need to change something, there's a
danger upperhead. That kind of thinking can make you more cautious, calculated,

(02:08):
and prepared. Think about elite athletes or special forces. They
visualize failure and then prepare for it. They don't just
see themselves winning ours. What could go wrong? What if
I miss that shot? What if the plan falls apart.
This is called defensive pessimism, and it's powerful. It allows
you to plan around obstacles and bounce back stronger. So

(02:31):
the key is not letting negative thoughts dominate your mindset.
You don't live there, you visit. You use them as
a sharpening tool, not a jail cell. So how do
you harness both positive and negative thinking. Here's a framework
that I teach my clients and teams. Number One, awareness
is power. When a thought enters your mind, positive or negative,

(02:51):
pause and then ask yourself is this helping me or
hurting me? Don't judge, just notice. Two positive thinking for vision.
Use positivity to create a compelling future. Visualize success, Affirm
your capabilities. Speak to yourself with strength and belief. Three
negative thinking for preparation. Use negativity to test your plan.

(03:16):
What are the weaknesses, what's the worst case scenario? What
systems or mindset tools can you build now to handle that.
Four Flip the switch. Once you've acknowledged the negative and
planned for it, flip the switch back to positive. Don't dwell,
just take action. And five combine both in your language.

(03:36):
Instead of saying this is impossible, say this is hard,
but I'm learning. I've never done this before, but I'm
open to figuring it out. This is the power of
what they call adaptive thinking, combining realism with optimism. So
here's how to apply it before I do anything challenging,
whether it's taking a group across your code, guiding someone
through personal transformation, or preparing for a big keynote. I

(03:59):
imagine everything that could go wrong. That's not weakness, that's
mental strength. Then I flip it of visualized success. I
speak beliefing to myself. I create momentum. Both sides matter,
one sharpens, one lifts. So next time someone tells you
just be positive, know that there's more to the story.
Positivity is powerful, but it's not everything negativity. When harnessed

(04:24):
becomes a tool, together they build clarity, resilience, and truth.
That's the foundation of a mentally strong human. You don't
choose to be one or the other. You use both
and keep building the best version of you. That's your team.
Thanks for churning into the Building Better Humans Project podcast again.
If this episode of your time, share it with someone

(04:45):
who needs to hear it, and remember, when you control
your mindset, you control your world. Catch in the next episode.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Thanks for listening to this episode of The Building Better
Humans Podcast with your host Glenn a'ser for feedback. To
stay up to date or go back and find an
old episode, head over to one eighty dotnet.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Donau Yeah the Building Better Humans Project podcasts.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
This go