Your Mind is a Magnet
The Law of Attraction says that what you think about and focus on and is what will come back to you. Like attracts like so if the energy you give off is negative, you will get negative back and if you are positive, you will receive positive in return. Your mind, like the magnet in the picture above, collects all sorts of things. The magnet doesn’t know the difference between a shiny new screw and a rusty old screw. Either will stick to the magnet if it is in the vicinity of them. Your goal is to attract positive things by surrounding yourself with positive things.
Have you ever had a bad day that just kept getting worse? You woke up and stubbed your toe. Then, you spilled coffee on your shirt. Your coworkers were rude and you got honked at on the way home. When you start off on the wrong foot, it often shows in your face and demeanor. You might look closed off or cranky at work, which sets your coworkers on edge or make you less open to ideas. You might take actions out of anger or frustration, being more careless, or driving like a jerk, thus leading to coffee spills and road rage.
Conversely, when you start the day in a positive manner, you’re more likely to be more positive throughout the day. Things that might have bothered cranky you roll off your back. In turn, because you seem positive and engaging, people are more willing to engage with you. You’re more open to new ideas and experiences.
People would rather be around people who bring out positive feelings. I’d rather be around someone who makes me laugh than someone who is gruff and angry all the time. When you have a positive mindset, you’ll get more done, be more creative, and solve problems better. In turn, you will attract like-minded indivduals who feel and create as you do.
But the key is - you must truly feel it. You can’t just plaster on a smile while secretly seething on the inside. People can tell when you’re faking it! To truly embrace positivity, you must work at it. When you develop new habits (like thinking positively), it rewires your brain to react in a different way.
You can start each morning with a series of positive affirmations. You can write in a journal about things that make you happy or things that you are thankful for. You can keep a gratitude jar with notes of things your are grateful for throughout the day. It can even be as simple as just going out of your way to be positive and friendly in every interaction you have.
The McDonald’s that I get my morning coffee at each morning recently hired a new employee. She is exceedingly polite and pleasant (especially at the ass crack of dawn in fast food drive thru, which I know from experience can often be the 7th circle of hell). She greets everyone with a smile or a compliment. She tells customers to “have a lovely day”. Most of all, you feel it’s coming from a genuine place. It’s not just some employee reading “have a nice day” off a script like a robot in a monotone voice. You can tell she is a positive person and is aiming to make every interaction a positive one. She gives off such a positive vibe. As a result, when I leave the drive thru, I feel more positive. My day is started with a smile.
So, make a point to be positive and engage with positive things. If you encounter negativity, remove yourself from it. Don’t engage with it! Like attracts like - it will ruin your good vibes. Negative people often will try to draw you into their negativity by picking fights or mental battles where they can have a platform to be negative. A simple “I’m sorry you feel that way” and hasty exit works best to extinguish the negative vibes before they spread to you. Work on developing a positivity routine that sprinkles positive activities throughout your day from morning until night and you’ll find yourself bringing more positivity into your life.
