• World view – If you think people are nice, then you will think positive thoughts whenever someone does something. You could think of some selfish reason for them to act that way, but these simply wouldn’t occur to you.  You will remember all the positive things more than the negative things.
• Traits – being outgoing, excited, or patient is just a thought pattern. If you tell yourself that there are so many interesting people out there, or there is no reasons to get impatient, then you can have great traits. You can change the way you think NOW – which change your traits. Your past can’t hold you back – unless you let it.
• What happens – If you think something is impossible, you won’t put in the effort it may require. Your subconscious won’t try to come up with other methods. Your negativity can discourage others, and even scare away people that would help you.
• Your emotions – If you view a situation as being good, then you will feel happy. If you focus on all the negative aspects – or make up a negative way to look at something- then you will be unhappy or depressed.

Convinced that its good to have positive thought patterns?
Make it YOUR goal to have more positive thoughts. A future post will help you get started.
Not so convinced? See what negative thoughts do!

This post is part of a 5 post series about how your thoughts affect your world. View: one, two, three, four, five.

Similar Posts:

• Your Thoughts: How To Think Positively
• Your Thoughts: Do You Recognize These 10 Negative Thought Patterns?
• Your Thoughts: For Continuous Progress, Celebrate Improvements
• Your Thoughts: Why You Aren’t Happy (And How to Fix It)
• Bad experience? Reframe it!
• 3 Critical Steps To Pursuing Growth

Like everyone else, you probably answered yes. Look at that question again: “…cause stress”- If outside events cause stress, that means you don’t have control. Do you want to be at the mercy of outside events?

You don’t have to! You may think if everyone was nice to you, or things went your way, you would be happy. But something based externally is fragile. If something goes wrong, you won’t be happy. Other people can’t give you true, lasting happiness. You may think that if you were rich, you wouldn’t have to worry about money. However, rich people get to worry about theft, natural disasters, the sinking economy, and people being nice only because of their money. The money won’t give you peace of mind. True happiness and peace of mind come from within. If your feelings rely on something external, then your feeling are beyond your control. Do you like not having control? Has it been working out well so far?

Here’s the key: the external events or situations don’t matter. Everything that happens is just a fact. Something happened. The way you view the situation determines how you feel. You can control how you view it. Being worry-free is about not worrying, not about anything external.

Your thoughts determine how you feel and how you act. Your past thoughts don’t need to hold you back. You can choose what to think NOW. You can direct your thoughts to a more empowered way of thinking. The more control you realize you have, the more control you will have.

This post is part of a 5 post series about how your thoughts affect your world. View: one, two, three, four, five.
Similar Posts:

• Your Thoughts: Do You Recognize These 10 Negative Thought Patterns?
• Your Thoughts: How To Think Positively
• Your Thoughts: The Power of Positive Thoughts
• Where Your Emotions Come From (And Why That’s Good News)
• Truthful Optimism
• Happiness Happens Right Now

Each channel of communication has its own methods for limiting the interruptions:

Email: Close outlook or whatever you use to check your mail. Email is NOT instant messenger – you aren’t expected to respond instantly! Just to make sure everyone else knows, set up an auto-responder that says “In an effort to help you better, I check my email twice a day at 12pm and 4pm. If something is urgent (and please make sure it really is!), please call my cell phone at …”.
If you are thinking “oh no, my boss won’t go for that” – just TRY it. I have heard from people who thought their boss would yell at them, but instead the boss forwarded the message to everyone in the company and said “I wish you all would do this – that’s proper time management!’

Phone: treat your phone the same as email. Let it go straight to voicemail with a message like: “In an effort to help you better, I check my voicemail twice a day at 12pm and 4pm. Please leave your email address so I can respond to you faster. If something is urgent (and please make sure it really is!), please call my cell phone at …”.
If you have a secretary, or are willing to pay for PhoneTag, have all your voicemails transcribed and emailed/put into your inbox like everything else. This gives you one less box to check and saves you the time and effort of listening and taking notes. The simpler, the better.

Open cubicle / office: If you have your own office, close your door  – with a do not disturb sign – when you are busy.
If someone comes to your office or cubicle, stand up right away. In an office, this stops them from sitting down and getting comfortable. It also gives the (correct) impression that you aren’t going to sit around and chit-chat. You can even walk them out.
If a visitor comes over – especially if they ask if you are busy or if you have a minute – answer them properly! “Sorry, I am in the middle of something right now. How can I help you?” If they can’t seem to get the words out, tell them to send you an email. Don’t let them chit chat, get them to tell you what they want. The phrase “Sorry, I have to get back to work” can do wonders.
If you are working in a cubicle, wearing ear plugs or headphones will help send the message that you are busy.

Instant messenger: If you can, close it. If you need it open, set yourself to “away” or “do not disturb”. Treat it like someone coming to your cubicle/office – get the interaction over with as quickly as possible.

Cell phone: This should only be receiving emergency calls. If calls come in that aren’t, you can politely ask them to only call you on your cell for emergencies. Again, treat it like a visitor.

Lastly, handle everything that comes up AFTER you finish the work in front of you! Write it down so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it.
Similar Posts:

• Do you run your life, or does it run you?
• Finding More Time, Part 4: Optimizing
• Don’t re-act, pre-act!
• Being on time
• Sleep with an open window
• To Grow, Ask “Why?”

How do we get rid of stuff?
This simple question provides the target: "what is the next action?"
If you have a piece of paper sitting out, ask "what is the next action?" If its a bill, it may be write and mail a check. If its a notice from school, you may need to write an appointment or some info on the calendar. For an advertisement, if you want it, put it on your shopping list – if not, throw it out. If its a receipt, file it with that fiscal years receipts.

When we leave things undecided it just bugs us. Every time we encounter the item/situation that "non-decision" comes to mind. Make it a habit to decide right away what you need to do next, and you will live in an environment – both physically and mentally – with much less "stuff"!

Similar Posts:

• The power of asking "What’s the next action?"!
• No, You Don’t Need to Pack All that Stuff!
• You Always Have Control – No Matter What!
• Don’t re-act, pre-act!
• How to Have Fun Checking Your Writing
• Everyone Is a Manager And a Leader!

• When you need to stay awake
• What’s That Stuff All Around?
• The Power of Passion – Are You Involving Your Heart?
• Don’t drink with your meal
• How to fall asleep quickly, part 1
• Use Music to Start the Day Happy and Energetic!