This is a great quote from Oprah Winfrey.

Though I’m not sure why she uses the pronoun ‘his’ – unless she only means that men can do it!? 🤔

But the point she makes is this…

Your future is decided by how you think TODAY.

If you believe that the worst will happen or that you don’t have what it takes to succeed, then it’s likely that you’ll fulfil your own prophecy.

However, if you believe that you can achieve something great and that a better life is possible, then you have every chance of it happening.

Which future do YOU choose? It’s totally your decision!

All it takes is a change of your mindset.

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

After all, a lot of what we think is driven by our past experiences… our deeply ingrained beliefs… and our social environment.

We cannot always simply ‘choose’ to be happy or positive, otherwise, every single one of us would be merrily skipping through the day, every day of the week, grinning from ear to ear.

But that’s not how it is.

In reality, we suffer all kinds of painful doubts and fears that bring us down and demotivate us.

“I’m not smart enough… I am too tired… I’m too ill… I don’t have the time… I don’t have the right skills… I’m too poor… I will just mess it up… I’m getting too old… nobody will listen to me… I’m never taken seriously… everyone looks down on me… I’ll become a laughing stock…”

These thoughts are like ‘bad seeds’…

They become rooted in reality and grow taller and thornier as time goes by, making your future dark and twisted.

Eventually, they CREATE the future that your mind conjures up.

But the reverse is also true…

You can plant ‘good seeds’ like these…

“I can learn what I don’t know… I’ve got great potential… I can find time… I can work around my illness… I can develop new skills… I can find money from somewhere… I can push myself to follow this through… there is no reason why I cannot achieve this… people will see the best version of me… I’ll show everyone what I can really do.”

These good seeds become rooted in reality and grow tall as time goes by, making your future fruitful and productive.

It will be the kind of future that sustains you and gives you great pleasure.

So how can you adopt that mindset, even when life seems to be stacked against you and not even your own brain allows you to have positive thoughts?

Well, it might take a bit of time and effort, but it is possible.

Here are some practical ideas…

How to Retrain Your Brain to Think Positively

Okay, so there are some daily exercises that you could try…

First, get hold of a blank paged journal (or you can open a file on your computer) and title it ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful.’

At the end of every day, write down at least one positive thing that has happened to you that day.

It could be something you achieved… a problem you overcame… a task that you successfully carried out… a kind word spoken by someone… a delicious thing you ate, an inspiring thing you read, or a good piece of music that you heard.

Get it all down every evening, and you will start to build up evidence that life can be good and that great things do happen to you.

Secondly, practise daily affirmations…

That means telling yourself something positive in the morning before you start your day.

It could be related to a task ahead of you, or just something good about yourself.

And thirdly, when you do get self-critical thoughts, try ‘reframing’ them to accentuate the positive.

“I have terrible concentration” would become: “I am best at concentrating in very short bursts, which is why I’m only going to do 20 minute sessions each time.”

“I can’t create a course because I cannot write very well,” would become: “I’m going to use editing tools and software to overcome my writing limitations.”

Actually, I’ve got a handy resource that explains more about this, and how to reframe your negative thoughts.

You can get hold of it for free here.

Finally…

Read inspirational books!

There are so many brilliant books out there that will get you fired up and motivated – and many have audiobook versions if you’re not a big reader.

I know from experience that after I have read an inspirational book, it influences how I think for weeks afterwards.

So by reading one or two a month, you can keep those fires stoked!

I will continue to mention my favourites in my emails to you but if you haven’t already, then a great one to start on is the classic Think & Grow Rich (download a free copy here)

Oh, and there’s one more thing you can do…

Make a plan!

One way to force your mindset to improve is to take some positive action towards that better future.

Write down the ideal life you want, and be specific about what it would entail.

Then make a proper plan to reach the goal.

Write it all down, cost it all out, and set some deadlines.

The very act of doing this will make that wonderful future begin to manifest.

To help you, here’s my ultimate planning guide (free).

Anyway, whatever methods you choose (and I recommend all of them, quite frankly), you should find your mindset shifting into a better place.

And you’ll notice that your attitude becomes more positive and better things begin to happen in your life in 2023 and beyond…