Do you honestly believe in the power of positive thinking and that your way of thinking leads you to success or failure?

I don’t believe that positive thinking alone breeds success, but it does have an effect. I do know I’d much rather be around and work with people who are positive. They are ones I hire. They are those ones who get the challenging assignments. They are the ones I prefer as customers. You don’t need a course to tell you that.
Here’s an experiment. Look in the mirror and smile. Now frown. Which type of person would you prefer to be with?

I was just discussing this with some friends. I quit smoking 7 weeks ago, and positive thinking and positive self-talk were a huge part of my success. All that psychobabble usually makes me gag, but after 40 years of smoking I was willing to try it. Damn, it really worked! I feel a bit guilty because I breezed through quitting and I didn’t suffer at all. Before, when I’ve quit I’ve been miserable. This time, as a heavier smoker, the only different thing was my attitude.
It won’t solve all your problems, but it will help.

Nah, I like the negative whiner aholes. They’re so much fun to be around. Barf.

I believe that honest thinking leads to a more positive thinking which leads to more success, if you judge “success” as life satisfaction and happiness.

I spent years of my life convinced that my negativity was just realism, and resented the happy people who were just oblivious. Now, I realize that my negativity was partly reflexive and mostly a result of delusion.

We are now aware of the plasticity of the brain. I feel as though in the past couple of years, my systematic move towards a healthier, positive life has rebooted my brain in huge ways. I can experience the same things but my reflexive emotion/thought process is more positive and healthy now.

Positivity != stupidity, even though I was convinced it did for 30+ years.

You’re assuming the only way to think positive is by CDs and books? And positive thinking isn’t the only thing that determines success and failure, but yes, I believe it helps.

I do believe that.

Positive energy breeds positive outcomes—not a guarantee, but even if failure is the outcome, the “get back on the horse that threw you” energy is there. Smile and the world smiles with you.

Works for me, so yeah, I guess I do.

I now stand up straight and keep a pleasant expression on my face at all times. I get regular compliments on my new hair-do, weight-loss, attractive wardrobe and increased IQ. It’s an interesting experiment sociologically, in addition to making me feel better which, in turn, makes me stand up straighter and smile more.

It depends on what positive thinking is. If we’re talking about smiles—well, my normal expression looks like a frown, but I have no trouble getting people to laugh or be interested in talking to me.

If we are talking about positive energy, then I have no idea. What is positive energy? It’s probably just a feeling of whether you like someone or not.

If we’re talking about a “can-do” attitude, then no. Absolutely not. People fool themselves all the time that they can do things within a certain time period. It almost always takes twice as long. That is pretty harmful to both employees and customers who rely on the boss’ word. What I want is a realistic attitude. I want to be able to trust someone and believe they have a good grasp of reality.

If we’re talking about positive self-talk, forget it. With me, that makes it worse. I use self talk and expect to improve, but nothing happens, so then I think I’m a failure and I get worse. I much prefer mindfulness, which does not rely on value judgments.

In fact, I hate value judgments. How’s that for an ironic sentence? ;-) I grew up wanting to be good and to do well, but as educated and skilled and talented as I became, no one ever told me I had done a good job. Particularly my parents. They praised my siblings, but not me.

I am much better off relying on my own assessment of myself. I am better off taking on challenged I enjoy instead of challenges to prove myself with respect to some standard. Success is a word I wish to ban from my vocabulary. What matters is doing things and enjoying things, not believing or thinking positively about my ability to achieve some goal.

I have no goals. Therefore I can’t be wrong and I can’t be right. I can, however, be. I can be who I am comfortable being. No one, not even me, is judging me. Positivity and negativity are irrelevant. I am not afraid of my dark side. I accept it. I am not afraid of my sunny side. It is what it is.

The second I start thinking about trying make myself positive, the exact opposite happens. I start descending into depression, I am an absolute failure at being positive, and the more I try, the worse it gets. I do what I do. I enjoy what I do. That’s all that matters to me. Trying to be what someone else wants me to be is disastrous.

I believe in a lot of “positive thinking” exercises. What works best for me though is to keep in mind whatever time is spent on something is lost forever, can’t get that time back and so if I let myself mope or be angry, I’ve got to accept that time is gone. At times it’s spurred me to get back on my feet, move through pain or fear because I hate waste, hate the idea of being cheated of life.

The kind of positive thinking this scary guy is hawking, no. You can’t think your way into wealth, health, God’s VIP club and a trophy wife/husband.

Positive self-talk, however, really does work as long as you’re not losing grips with reality. What also works for me is acknowledgement, acceptance and gratitude statements. I also enjoy being kind, so that kinda helps. :D

I knew one woman who would say positive, positive, positive to everything—she was so ungrounded and unrealistic, denied any negative thoughts existed and tried to fuzz out any emotion that was remotely distressing. She was one of the most anxious people I have known. Be real, but yeah, it actually helps to interpret life positively!

Yes

Depends on your definition of “positive thinking.”

Defined as “Hope” I would say that it is ineffective. That is, you can’t get a million dollars, lose weight, get that girl, or solve your marital issues simply as a result of hoping that you will. Hope and faith are very weak in their ability to bring about the aspired changes. The only cases where hope/faith/confidence has an impact is in cases where others in power are entertained by your hope/faith/confidence which MIGHT by chance inspire them to see your hopes fulfilled by doing what you should have been doing in the first place: Finding a solution and acting on it.

Positive thinking as defined as resourceful, strategic, and constructive thought patterns.. that makes a difference. These kinds of positive thoughts are the very opposite of negative thinking such as “Why bother trying” or “I give up” or “who cares”.. When you get decisive by figuring out your flaws, finding solutions, and then implementing them systematically, you are thinking in terms of positive growth for yourself. You’re not just sitting around waiting for the charity of others or for chance to swing things around for you. Positive thinking without any sort of action plan and action is dead. One of the oldest moral principals ever.

Eh, no. I don’t deny it can help, but that alone won’t do or fix anything.

I think positive thinking keeps people from getting out of their own way, which leads to success more often than going into something believing you’ll fail at it. Being positive without any action won’t make you more successful, but taking action with a positive attitude can increase your chances.

What @LuckyGuy and @gailcalled said. There is a difference between being a positive person and a delusional one, and knowing the difference helps a lot. I think it was Jefferson or Franklin who said to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. I think that’s the best policy. If you start worrying about losing the battle after that, you’re just pre-living a defeat that may never come. And you’ll likely chase away any potential allies because you’ve become such a bloody buzzkill. People don’t like backing losers. They pity them.

Cover all your bases to the best to your abilities, stay positive as to the outcome (stiff upper lip, chin out even on your worst days), and if the hammer drops, well, that’s when you can have a good cry. And not before.