Contact Lou Stoops:

Email Lou, or visit www.loustoops.com

More articles by Lou Stoops:

• What's Leadership?

  Good leaders help people. Become a resource person for others. When someone shares a need, find a way to help.
   
• Be Positive
  A positive outlook is the best way to travel the achievement road.
   
• How To Burn Brightly Without Burning Out
  
The value of laughter to overall well being is becoming clearer to those in the medical community. Laughter has physical and emotional benefits.
   
• So You Had A Tough Childhood!

  While it may be true that some have had a particularly difficult life, it isn't true that that predetermines failure.

Be Positive

by Lou Stoops

Being positive in a negative world takes determination and diligence. Determination because being positive is a decision; diligence, because there will always be pressures to turn negative. Why is it so important to be positive? The road to achievement is a rough one and those who make the journey must understand that only those that see the trip in a positive light make it to the destination. Negative people use adversity as an excuse to quit; positive people see adversity as a sure road sign that they’re on to something. There are many that want the benefits of achievement but few that are willing to pay the price. The price is steep. It often takes long hours and hard work to make progress and see reward. That’s why being positive is so important. Without a hopeful and optimistic outlook, the temptation to quit can be overwhelming. Constructing a positive outlook is an adventure in itself. To do so often means walking a path that has few travelers. It would seem by the amount of grumbling and complaining heard these days, that a positive outlook is a road least traveled. Our culture makes extra effort to pander to negative outlooks. That’s why tabloids do so well. Good news publications are hard to find.

Having a positive outlook has tremendous benefits. Besides having a sustaining affect upon us when we’re straining toward achievement, it allows us to see beyond the obvious. Sometimes our efforts seem stalled because we appear to have limited resources. The old adage, “ If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail”, comes to mind. A positive outlook is often just the right light needed to realize that present resources don’t have to be limiting. We can do things beyond our resources by looking at our situation differently; the abundant resources all around us can aid our achievement. If you don’t know something you find a way of acquiring what you need to know. Certainly, a temporary ignorance is no reason to quit.

A positive outlook also has an attraction quality that can propel us toward achievement. People, even negative people, find a positive outlook contagious. Attraction is the force to appeal to others and bring them into your corner. You need people to win in life. The self-made man or woman is more myth than anything else. The positive person is able to attract others to care and collaborate. If you were to seek the counsel of a successful individual to help you, do you think they would respond better to a positive outlook or a negative one? Winners help other winners. A winner is someone that goes after life with a positive outlook. Whiners see everything as being negative.

A positive outlook is the best way to travel the achievement road. You’ll successfully navigate the twists and turns when you decide upon the right fuel; optimism fuels forward while pessimism stops you altogether. This isn’t being naïve. Sometimes things don’t work out like you plan. Sometimes the pessimist’s worries come to pass. But remember another old adage: In the long run, the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.