What is your relation with your money? Money is a necessary thing, and to have and to win money is not a sin (rhyme intended 🙂 ). On the other hand, to live for money is not only a sin but a stupidity. We, as integral human beings, are of much more value than any material concept. This is something I insist a lot in my business seminars: look for money, but never lend your heart to money. In other words, win money, but don’t let money to win you.

Who are the Winners?

Winners are fortunate people, indeed. But except for rare cases, most of their fortune stems from hard work, and more importantly, from a sound and clear mindset. Winners have no time (nor wish) to be moaning about the “harshness of life.” Winners don’t complain about such things, because they understand that life, like a river, exhibits turbulent episodes in some parts, but caress and nourish the surrounding nature, all the way.

Positive Attitude in The Winners’ Mind

Nevertheless, all these years I’ve known a lot of people who are frequently bitching about their lack of money or general misfortune, but what they are indeed lacking is a positive attitude toward their money. Now, what does this “positive attitude” notion mean? Let’s start by answering a few questions:

• What really are the kind of thoughts that flood our minds when we think of our money?
• Which are the words we utter when speaking about our money and related things (such as mortgage, bank, expenses, etc.)?
• In the past, how much success have we attained by spending and investing our money?

For me,

Positive Attitude = Positive Thoughts + Positive Words

Note that the above equation simply states that a positive attitude amounts to a positive mental production. Most often that not, our past success (or lack of it) determines our mental precondition for new ventures. In this sense, experience acts as a conditioning for the new undertakings, which may be a good thing (or not.) It really depends on our ability to use positive attitude to fuel the success of the past, or to improve our performance with respect to a previous unsatisfactory experience. For new things, Winners always combine their positive attitude and their past (bad and good) experiences. A point here is that past experiences should never be a fear factor for money issues.

An important thing we have to notice is that if we are always complaining about our financial problems, and thinking that nothing can be done, our minds will be devoured by the negative thoughts. Worse yet, with time, our minds will get used to this mental state, and such mental states only attract more debt and despair. There is a huge difference between facing financial problems at a given stage of our lives (we all face or have faced this type of problems,) and thinking that no action can be done to improve the situation. Winners think different, and that’s why they are the winners. It’s just that simple.

Money Problems should be Faced through Positive Thinking

Our minds are a theater of thoughts, flowing and reshaping, every day. Some actors of such theater are excellent, but other are fairly mediocre. And what is the nature of mediocre thoughts? Short answer: our view on some aspects of reality. If some aspect of current reality bothers us, our minds will tend to create thoughts of angst. Mediocre thoughts have some noxious effects:

• First, they block any risky action linked to the problem (even though the outcome of such action may solve the problem!)
• Moreover, they activate the body’s defense system, sometimes uneccessarily stressing it.
• And finally, they are a waste of time and energy. Worrying achieves nothing. Why? Because worries change nothing; solutions and goals require (imply) change.

Now, most of problems we see in life are related to money, and therefore, money tends to become into a source of mediocre and harmful thoughts. That’s what we have to change. In order to attain wealth, winners introduce important changes in their thinking style. Remember what I said about thoughts being actors of the (mental) theater. Who is the director of the theater and of the play? You.

Let’s start by replacing negative thoughts by positive ones. If we are thinking of our limitations for dealing with debts and mortgage crisis, we have to replace the constraining thoughts by effective assertions: “I can overcome this problem“, “A lot of people have also faced debt and have solved it“, “I can be a winner.” The more diverse your positive thoughts, the better off you are.

Why do I also insist in that money is a thing, and that we are of much more valor than such material things? It’s because a lot of people like to think of money as being the ultimate goal, the everything, and when financial mess arises, they crumble. It’s a logical consequence: they have trained their minds (unconsciously, perhaps) to consider money as a the main pillar of life. Of course, when such people face troubles related to money, they may consider such problems as a “failure at life.” Winners cannot be like such people. We are assertive beings, which recognize any problem and face it. Life is wonderful, and it’s a providential gift no money can replace.

Winners Believe in Themselves

I’ll close the article with a few useful remarks for building the positive attitude of Winners:

• We have to learn to compose thoughts and words in order to be better. This is the first step towards success. True greatness starts out with true thinkings of greatness.
• When we start to think that we are able to achieve things (we can!), your thoughts acquire power, and your actions turn effective.
• When we say “I can“, we start feeling more powerful. Richness stems from positive thoughts and words. I can is an enrichment tool to support life success. More importantly, by saying “I can” we are speaking truth. Things we thought of as being impossible, should now be regarded as inevitable.
• When we feel the self-confidence stemming from “I can“, we attain the required clarity for doing things right.
• How could we know if we are thinking the right way? It’s easy, indeed. If we are having thoughts and words that steadily lead us to actions, then we are on the right track. It’s very important that you can verify that your thoughts and words are right.
• Every time we follow the way of thought -> actions, and succeed, our self-confidence is reinforced. And this improved self-confidence will be the nourisher for future paths and further (and harder) goals. Go step by step, and don’t set unrealistic goals (if you’ve read my previous post, you should be already aware of my insistence on not setting unrealistic goals.)
• Keep your attitude positive and keep at it. You will get there.
• We have to look forward. The future always brings new opportunities.
• Think BIG: Think further, think different, you’re not alone. Think of the people you love and care for. Learn to look the broad world, from both material and spiritual standpoints. Winners look for abundance in order to enjoy it, and share it.
• Being a Winner requires courage. Are you ready for this? If we act with courage, rewards of life will be even greater.
• Enjoy the little treasures of life.

Remember, the potential to achieve your goals resides in you. Look nowhere else.