Chris Dietzel's Blog - Posts Tagged "optimism"
Surround Yourself With Positive People
In college, I thought my dreams were silly. So much so that I didn’t even bother to take Creative Writing classes. But now I’m working toward my goal of writing and publishing novels. What changed between college and nine years ago when I started writing? I surrounded myself with extremely driven and optimistic people.
Following college, I started learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Each evening, I trained with people from all walks of life, all with varying dreams, but all of whom shared one common trait: they set goals for themselves, they worked with all of their energy to achieve those goals, and they encouraged everyone else to do the same.
Mindsets are infectious. I found myself changing from being the type of person who thought dreams were a waste of time, to being a person who thought I could achieve anything I wanted if I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. I went from being a person who thought it was easier to criticize others than it was to support them, to being someone who wanted to help everyone else work toward their goals as well.
But it’s not only positive mindsets that are infectious. So are negative ones. Which is why it’s critical not to give any time or energy to anyone who would make you doubt your dreams or attempt to bring you down rather than build you up. When you are trying to believe in yourself for the first time, it doesn’t take much from friends or family--a snide remark, a veiled putdown—to keep you feeling like your goals might be a waste of time.
Today, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled than ever before. And it’s all because I’ve surrounded myself with driven and optimistic people, and I stay away from anyone with a negative, nay-saying attitude. To all the people who have encouraged me: thank you. And to everyone who needs a little positive support: no matter what your dream is, the sooner you begin working toward it the happier you’ll be.
Following college, I started learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Each evening, I trained with people from all walks of life, all with varying dreams, but all of whom shared one common trait: they set goals for themselves, they worked with all of their energy to achieve those goals, and they encouraged everyone else to do the same.
Mindsets are infectious. I found myself changing from being the type of person who thought dreams were a waste of time, to being a person who thought I could achieve anything I wanted if I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. I went from being a person who thought it was easier to criticize others than it was to support them, to being someone who wanted to help everyone else work toward their goals as well.
But it’s not only positive mindsets that are infectious. So are negative ones. Which is why it’s critical not to give any time or energy to anyone who would make you doubt your dreams or attempt to bring you down rather than build you up. When you are trying to believe in yourself for the first time, it doesn’t take much from friends or family--a snide remark, a veiled putdown—to keep you feeling like your goals might be a waste of time.
Today, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled than ever before. And it’s all because I’ve surrounded myself with driven and optimistic people, and I stay away from anyone with a negative, nay-saying attitude. To all the people who have encouraged me: thank you. And to everyone who needs a little positive support: no matter what your dream is, the sooner you begin working toward it the happier you’ll be.
Believe In Yourself
A friend of mine reminded me of this blog post. You can never have too many positive affirmations so I'm re-posting it.
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For a long time I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother trying.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined and motivated people and I realized the only difference between them and myself was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
- Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations. These people infect your outlook.
- People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually if you keep working toward it.
- Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit an awful first draft or some poorly written dialogue. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
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For a long time I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother trying.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined and motivated people and I realized the only difference between them and myself was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
- Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations. These people infect your outlook.
- People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually if you keep working toward it.
- Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit an awful first draft or some poorly written dialogue. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
