Nathan Blaszak's Blog

Link: http://www.applyhypnosis.com/48/sales.html

In my teen years, I had a 1984 Jeep CJ-7. It had an inline 5 great running engine, with a killer lift, and 4x4 stickers on the hood. It was a sweet ride. My friends and I used to take the top down in the dead cold of winter just for the thrill of it. You should’ve seen the looks on people’s faces.

Follow up:

One of our favorite activities was climbing large hills, and literally blazing our own trails through the woods during the summer season. My Jeep had such a large bumper on it, a tree 5-6 inches thick could easily be run over, and hills were challenging because it had such a narrow wheel base (and could easily tip over if steered the wrong way backing down).

One day, we got lost. To top it off, it didn’t run well without a battery, and the battery was dead for some reason. If I didn’t keep my foot on the gas pedal, break, and the clutch the whole time when idling, the Jeep would stall.

This was a negative circumstance. It was getting cold and it starting to rain. To the best of my ability I kept that Jeep running but that night we literally had to push it a dozen or so times so we could pop the clutch and get it started again. All of the challenges that night that could’ve possibly happened were brought to our table.

We could’ve easily just called someone, but we didn’t know where we were at (this was before cheap GPS times)! Here we were, lost in the woods with a Jeep that didn’t want to stay running on its own. We met hills, obstacles, and trails we decided to take even came to an end.

Even though we had all of these challenging circumstances, we still managed to make it home that night (even though I had never blazed that many trails before in a single evening). I knew the direction we had to go, and so no matter what, we pushed through it.

What made this event so memorable? It was the event that helped me to realize the importance of keeping your eye on the goal. More importantly, I had to avoid many challenging obstacles as they showed up or just blaze right through them.

It got me to thinking about how that works in life. There are so many people out there teaching us to think positive and to keep thoughts positive, when I have personally realized to love to think both ways. That means negative thoughts get me just as excited as positive ones.

How?

Think about it. Negative thinking keeps us on the right path. It’s a “look out” feature of our mind. When we face our goal, and keep our sites on it, negative thinking helps us to keep on course. In fact, I’ve grown quite fond of negative thoughts.

It used to bother me. If I had a negative thought I’d wonder if there was something wrong with me. I was afraid that I would “attract” that negative circumstance to me. I would instantly “think positive, think positive, think positive.”

But just imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a Jeep. You select your destination. Although you keep your mind fixed on that destination, challenges such as trees, hills, and trails that come to an end show up on our course. But you have a strong Jeep. Even if it doesn’t want to stay running on its own, you do everything in your power to keep it running and headed towards your destination. You go around and even through trees. Sometimes you have to get out of the Jeep and “pop the clutch” to get the engine going again. And finally, with determined effort, you reach your destination.

I highly doubt you’d sit in that Jeep and when the first tree that comes along blocking your path you’re going to stop, kill the engine, and stare at the tree while saying “Well, our road has ended guys. It was a good run, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s start walking.”

Funny, I had mentioned this to a very pessimistic person and they said to me “Yeah that sounds great, but what happens if you get stuck in the mud?” Good question. Call a wrecker. While you may not have made it to your destination in the way that you had originally thought, you still made it – even if outside help was required (or even if you really did have to walk).

You see, what most people don’t realize is that our brain runs on programs. The goals we give it (in other words, what we focus on most) is what the program will seek to do. If we maintain our focus towards our goal, then our brain goes to work to arrive at that destination.

Here’s another interesting fact: our mind takes the path of least resistance. In order for that to happen, it thinks negative at times.

What? Why?

It thinks negatives because it’s showing you what to avoid, or the challenges that you’ll face, so you can correct your course of action, and arrive to your destination as smoothly as possible. It’s sort of like a mechanism that says “Hey, look out! This bad thing COULD happen, so keep your eye fixed on the goal!”

Negative thinking get’s me excited. I use it as proof that I’m headed in the right direction. Never do I see an obstacle before me and think to just give up, but unfortunately, there are many people out there that do.

They get an idea to do something worthwhile and decide on their goal, but the first challenge that pops up they stop and stare at it wondering what to do. If they aren’t careful, they usually play victim and ask why this always happens or worse, just decide that their goal is hopeless.

Negative thoughts are there to notice, but that’s just about it. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen, or that it will happen… it just means that it could if you take your mind off the goal.

While vacationing in the Bahamas, I had the opportunity to learn from a semi-pro pool player how to play a better game at pool. He had told me to visualize the object ball going into the pocket instead of missing.

While this is simple advice, it took my game to the next level. Before he had mentioned this, I used to have this “what if I miss” mentality. “I’ll look like a complete fool for missing this shot” and thoughts like these were responsible for me to miss a lot of easy shots.

Today, when I play a game of pool I am well aware of what “could” happen – that I might miss, or the cue ball could be struck with the wrong speed, but now I’m completely aware that this is how the mind learns.

Just as so long as you maintain focus on the goal, eventually the mind learns the easiest, shortest, and most successful path to arrive to the destination. When that happens, all the failures, mistakes, and past obstacles are stored in the memory to avoid.

Negative thinking gets me excited.

Since everyone is unique, each individual must learn differently. Some people have more skills in one area than another, but that doesn’t mean those skills can’t be acquired. Just select your destination, notice the warning signals your mind gives you, and get excited too. You’re only so many actions away from meeting your goal.

If a negative thought pops into your head, what should you do? Notice it. Take a note of it, yet at the same time keep your focus on the goal. Henry Ford said “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”

They do get frightful, don’t they? Just something simple as missing a pool shot. I’d take a single negative idea and if I focused too long on it, I’d paint a huge scenario in my head. This is how the mind works, remember?

If you focus too long on a negative outcome, what happens is the mind goes “focus, goal, get goal.” So if you want to fail, be miserable, make mistakes, then keep your focus on those things. However, if you want to be successful, notice those negative thoughts, and avoid them easily by using those thoughts to remind you to keep your sights on the outcome you truly want.

Talk Soon,
Nathan Blaszak

PS: If you're looking for a surefire way to get your brain to attract, focus, and work to gain what you desire in your life both personally and professionally, I've created a KILLER self-hypnosis course. Check it out: http://www.applyhypnosis.com/48/sales.html