4 Ways I Remain Positive in a Negative World

4 WAYS I INTENTIONALLY KEEP A POSITIVE MINDSET...while living in a world filled with all types of negativity and non-stop political discussions.

The first thing you should understand is who you are is who you attract.

If you want to attract positive game changers into your life, you must be a positive game changer. Positive people shine.

If you are a negative complainer, you'll attract negative complainers into your life. Negative people whine.

Shine Don't Whine!

4 Ways I Stay Positive

1) Unfollow Negative People

"When you are content with a small crowd you remain small yourself. If you live with critical people, you become critical. If you associate with negative, defeated people, then likely you will be negative and defeated also." ~ John C. Maxwell

I instantly unfollow anyone on social media who posts, shares, or makes negative comments or who complains about anything or anyone.

Someone spraying the world with their negativity on social media tells me all I need to know about their character.

However, I don't necessarily "disconnect" or "unfriend" because I hope they may continue to see my feed and some of my positivity rubs off on them. But, that's not usually the case. Note: People have quit following me because I was too positive. I know because they sent me a negative message letting me know why they were unfollowing me.

Following or not following someone on social media has nothing to do with how I feel about them as a person.

There are people I love but don't follow.

It has everything to do with what I allow into my mind. Just because someone has it in their mind doesn't mean I want it in mine. I intentionally control what goes in my mind. It's one reason I read personal growth and leadership development books everyday.

Positive thoughts lead to positive results.

That's the life I want. That's the life I have.

I'm not on social media to be social or to make friends, although that is a byproduct of being on social media. If I truly want to be social and make friends, I do that in real life with real people like I did before social media, in person or by phone.

The primary reason I'm on any social media platform today is to share positive, character-based content with those who value it and use social media as a resource for their own personal growth and development. I spend less than 5 minutes a day scrolling randomly as many seem to do frequently. However, I may spend a lot of time reading valuable personal growth and leadership development content provided by the other positive people who fill my feed.

If someone doesn't like me, follow me, or "like" what I share, it has zero impact on my life.

2) Minimize Negative News and Opinion TV

"People with well developed self-control will not permit themselves to be influenced by the cynic or the pessimist; nor will he permit another person to do his thinking for him." ~ Napoleon Hill

I minimize my time watching cable news or streaming news because there is very little real news available anymore. To keep up with current events, I prefer to read the news on various platforms instead of watching or listening to it because I can be much more selective.

Reading the news also allows me to avoid the negative influence that comes with experiencing, hearing, and seeing the people on the news with negative attitudes.

When I was a kid, it seemed the news informed of us all types of events that had taken place that day locally, nationally, and internationally. The news wasn't filled with opinions. It was simply filled with stories about various events.

Today, the people presenting the "news" seem to be trying to tell us what we should think, how we should think, and how we should feel about what's going on in the world, mostly politics.

Today, the news channels are filled with many individuals who are paid to guess why things are happening and guess what will happen next. Most often, they don't have a clue, get it wrong, and are paid to come back the next day and guess some more.

Why are they paid to come back when they get wrong most of the time? Because the point is to influence how we think, not to necessarily get it right or wrong.

3) Form Thoughts based on Natural Laws and Principles

"Real optimism is aware of problems but recognizes solutions; knows about difficulties but believes they can be overcome; sees the negatives, but accentuates the positives; is exposed to the worst but expects the best; has reason to complain, but chooses to smile." ~ William Arthur Ward

I develop and form my own thoughts that are in alignment with natural laws and principles, not the opinions of others. Again, this is why I have been reading personal growth and leadership development books every day since 2008.

The absolute truth is this: Most of what's going on in the world will have zero impact on my day.

I choose to focus on creating the life I want in the space I truly live in while attempting to avoid the chaos of everyone else's life.

I live a very positive life by design, not by accident.

My life was positive with the last president. My life will be positive with this president. And, my life will be positive with the next president. Why? Because I control my life.

My life is not based on who the president is or isn't. It's based on what I want it to be.

Sure, the circumstances may change. They've been changing since the beginning of time and will continue to change until the end of time.

4) Associate with Positive People

"One of the most expensive things you could ever do is pay attention to the wrong people." ~ Dr. Henry Cloud

I only associate with positive people. Not sometime, all the time. 

There is no room for negative people in my life. I don't care if they are family or not.

I'm attracted to positive people with a high degree of character. I don't care if they are family or not.

When it comes to associating with others, I don't care what color they are, how old they are, how tall they are, what size they are, where they were born, what their religion is or isn't, if they are male or female. I only care if they are positive people who value strong character, respect all people, and strive to model a high degree of character consistently in their lives. 

There have always been positive and negative people on the earth at the same time, and there always will be. That's life. That's the way it is. But, which side of the fence you're standing on is a choice.

Every day I choose to be one of the positive people, and I also choose to avoid the negative people.

The result: I live a positive life with my positive wife!

"In a world of negative news, negative social media, and negative talk, be the positive example for your family, friends, and community." ~ Ria Story

About Blue-Collar Leadership...

Blue-Collar Leadership? provides leaders with a platform for training and developing their workforce to unleash their potential by taking powerful leadership concepts and packaging them in easy to understand and apply resources.

Founded by Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership? is uniquely designed content specifically created to engage and develop the front line workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them.

We understand your biggest frustration as a leader is likely disengaged team members. We specialize in helping leaders engage the front line to improve the bottom line.

Mack Story has logged over 11,000 hours leading leaders and their teams through organizational change. He is the author of the extremely popular Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books. He also produces the Blue-Collar Leadership Podcast with new episodes posted weekly on Friday mornings.

Ria Story is an author, TEDx speaker, and expert in leadership and life skills for women. Ria has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership and management. 

Mack and Ria are certified leadership speakers and trainers and have published 31 leadership development and personal growth books. 

Highlights for them have been:

• Helping train 20,000 Guatemalan Leaders with John Maxwell
• Speaking at Yale University
• Offering leadership development support for the U.S. Military, Chick-fil-A, Auburn University, Chevron, Kilgore Construction, and many other organizations

Are you in the USA? We will come to you! Checkout our "2021 Special Offer" below.

If you're willing to invest in your team, we are too. What do we mean?

What we will do…

We’ll provide 200 (any combination) of our five Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books (or choose from any of our 31 titles) to you at NO COST. WE’LL ALSO PAY ALL OF OUR EXPENSES to travel anywhere in the USA to conduct up to 2 hours of on site leadership development training or speaking for any size group at any level. We are also happy to train/speak virtually if you prefer that option.

What you must do…

Invest in your team. Take advantage of our “Special Offer” reduced speaking fee of ONLY $3,600, which happens to be the exact cost of the 200 books. Distribute the 200 books to your blue-collar workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them. Note: Our speaking fees normally range from $5,000-$20,000 in the USA.

Call Mack Story at 334-728-4143 and make it happen!