Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Positive Principle Today as another expansion of the Power of Positive Thinking. The famous self-help author helped millions of people become more positive and get through tough times.
Some of Norman Vincent Peale’s suggestions for maintaining optimism include:
- Peale advises people to change by reinventing themselves, altering their attitudes and ignoring past limits. They would do this basically through self-hypnosis and prayer.
- Writing down desires and goals on paper several times and leaving them in different locations to refer to is one way to embed positive results in the mind.
- He tells people to use visualization in The Positive Principle Today, with the theory that the positive pictures will eventually happen. It’s important to believe that change is possible while envisioning the desired outcome.
Eliminating Negative Self-Talk
Peale seems to be particularly offended with the word impossible because it does discourage, which dampens enthusiasm. In The Positive Principle Today, he suggests negative thinkers check words they say vigilantly, replacing them with positive words. Repeat these positive words frequently, and the mind eventually accepts them as reality.
Let Go and Let God
This advice has the danger of sounding as though people should simply throw their hands up in the air and give up. First he says they should do all they can about a tough situation before letting go. Having faith that things will work out with God’s help does help people succeed. Sometimes though, even a brief breather away from a problem gives a fresh perspective to try again later. Take it one step at a time, rather than trying to solve the problem all at once.
Help Someone Else
There’s always someone worse off and helping others takes the focus off individual problems and self-absorption. It also puts things in perspective so that problems become easier to handle and enthusiasm returns.
Other advice that worked for Norman Vincent Peale, but may be easier said than done:
- Stay cool under pressure and don’t react emotionally. This bit of advice could save plenty of people hassles if they followed it. Unfortunately, it tends to come with age and/or maturity.
- Don’t dramatize or exaggerate difficulties. This is good common sense advice because problems can get blown out of proportion when they're dramatized.
- Don’t answer criticism or offer explanations. Peale advises people not to get defensive with critics, which is usually a good idea.
- Examine criticism and decide if it’s valid. If it is, correct it.
Peale reminds people that they cannot become strong without some sort of struggle in The Positive Principle Today (Ballantine Books, 1996, ISBN-10: 0449911985). This is similar to the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” saying, and it does offer comfort, even if it’s in the form of black humour.
Other books by Norman Vincent Peale:
The Power of Positive Thinking
Enthusiasm Makes The Difference
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