The Myths of "Reality" and "Positive Thinking"

Published on January 29, 2012

On a Sunday during this seasons NFL playoffs,  I went to a friend’s house to watch the Texans/Ravens Football Game. I had no intention of staying to watch my beloved Giants play the Green Bay Packers because of my friends negative approach to the game based on “reality”.

My friend is a Giants fan also. However he said there is no way they will win. I on the other hand envisioned the Giants winning and so did the Giants players. Vision is the first trait of great sellers and leaders in the CEO Best Selling book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way!

What the Giants players did was envision themselves walking off the field as winners. They held that vision and every day certain actions came to mind on what they needed to do turn that vision into reality.

Reality is not what anyone says. It starts with how you think. If you think you won’t win, your actions will produce your self-fulfilling prophecy. If you envision yourself winning, are committed to it and you are constantly holding that vision, the answers will come to you on how to do it.Do you win all the time? No. But you will win a heck of a lot more times than the person who follows the reality there is no chance at all for victory.

To believe, you must do so first before anyone else does. The only reason I believed the Giants would win was because of their recent play and their current attitudes and beliefs.

I left before the Giants game because I needed to be in a place where my vision was not negatively affected. Are you hanging out with people who are dealing with their own reality or your reality of what victory should look like?

Thank you to the Giants players who did not listen to the naysayers. After they won the game, I emailed my friend this message:

“Reality does not drive our dreams. Dreams are brought to life by people who believe, are committed and who do not listen to the naysayers. They create their own reality”.

What is your reality?  Today’s reality is the Giants are playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl.  Who really thought this was possible in the beginning of the season?  My daughter reminded me last week that I told her in August the Giants were going all the way.  While that would qualify me as possibly being a prophet, the issue was not whether I believed, but whether the Giants players believed.  They did and they created their own REALITY.

This is critical to work on if you want to increase your influence, become a better leader, increase sales revenues, stem declining sales revenues, deal with pricing pressures and realize customer growth.

Once you have your vision, download for free these chapters on the five beliefs and seven traits of Great Leaders and Sellers!