Publisher’s Page: Focus on the positives in 2019

By John Winters, Publisher

So how many love New Year’s resolutions?

Yeah.

I mean the intent is nice. “This year I promise to eat better/stop smoking/lose weight/be nicer/smile more/cut out (fill in the blank)/obey my parents/not yell at my kids … and so on.”

And we make it a day or week or month and then something comes up and we don’t “do” or “go” one day and then it becomes two and soon we are just kicking and berating ourselves for failing yet again. But there’s always next year …

Yeah.

If you pay attention, many “resolutions” are just promises to ourselves to “do better.” In other words, trying to turn a negative into a positive. But what if we, to borrow an old phrase of mine, Just Flip The Dog on these resolutions?

How about focusing more on the positives and try to eliminate the negatives all together. And instead of making all these “new” resolutions, we look back instead. What were some big positives in your life last year? Focus on growing those more. What were the big negatives in your life. Focus on eliminating them in the next year.

I’m not saying it’s easy. Change rarely is. A good example is a horrible boss. The only real way to change him/her, barring a lightning bolt from the Almighty, may be a job change. That’s your call. But the important thing to remember in a situation like that is to make it YOUR call.

Do you have friends that bring you down? That are too negative for you? Eliminate them. Okay, not literally but spend less and less time with them. Were there people in your life that were full of encouragement, always put you in a good mood? Cultivate them.

I was recently reading a newsletter from Tim Ferriss who talked about something very similar. He called it a Past Year Review. Ferriss is a well known podcaster, hosting the show called (wait for it) The Tim Ferriss Show, which has had more than 300 million downloads. One of his books, the 4-Hour WorkWeek, is a New York Times bestseller.

In other words, lot of people listen to what Ferriss has to say.

He takes a notebook and writes two columns headed “Positive” and “Negative.” He reviews his calendar and writes down people, events or activities that had a positive in his life. And yes, those go under the Positive column. Same thing for the negative column.

Ferriss suggests looking at the top 20 percent of each column. Schedule meetings, events and activities on your calendars – now – for those positives. And conversely, create a “Not To Do List” of those things or people in the negative column.

I really like the idea of a “Not To Do” list. You have to physically or mentally take an action. And that action is to ensure a negative does not come up.

God has put you on earth with specific passions and talents, and designed you for a purpose. Or, He doesn’t exist and we are born, live a while and die.

I go with the former and hope you do as well. And that means we understand what we are good at, and use that to the betterment of others and our community. You have a gift. You are a gift. Share it with others.

And on behalf of all of us here at Winters Media & Publishing, Inc., we wish you a new year filled with happiness, successful challenges and purpose.

Until next time.