The Power of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is critical to success.

Not in the “Build it and they will come” – Field of Dreams sort of way, but you have to believe in yourself and your idea in order to have any chance at all.

Last week I saw the power of positive thinking in action as a judge at SMU’s first Big Idea Day competition.  Six months earlier students had pitched their Big Ideas, with winners receiving seed money to begin working on their businesses. Now I was invited to participate as the same students presented their business plans as well as work to-date, for the opportunity to receive additional funding to continue.

Sort of like “Shark Tank”, without the high-rolling judges writing personal checks to finance the projects. Thank goodness they were not looking to me for funding.

The ideas were great, but what impressed me the most was the students’ positive attitudes.

They simply were undeterred by things that would stop most career veterans at the get-go.

As judges it was our job to determine which Big Ideas truly had a chance for success as well as evaluate the business plans and other predetermined criteria.  It was hard to focus on the idea and not let years of work experience jade us in our decisions.

Negative thoughts instantly popped into our heads.  Permits, legal issues, security, technology, shipping, advertising, staffing; the list went on and on.  The who, what, where, when and how questions seemed insurmountable to us, in many cases.

Not to the students.  They were ready to roll up their sleeves and make the idea come to life.  They were passionate about their plans and ideas; everything seemed possible with hard work and determination.

Part of that, of course, is the wonderful naiveté from simply being college students who lack real-world experience. Yet I admired their grit and determination.  We were all that way at one time, immune to common convention and the “rules” that have become second nature.

As career veterans sometimes we zone in on what can’t be done.  Budgets and bureaucracy and legal ramifications and just  being told “no” so many times over the years has worn us down. Along with experience – or dare I say egos – that whisper, “I’ve tried that before; it won’t work”.  Doesn’t matter that it was years ago and under different circumstances; we think we know best.

We err on the side of caution, working towards what we know we can accomplish and succeed at instead of the riskier, harder ideas that take more time and effort with the possibility of failure.

It’s so easy, isn’t it? To get caught up in what can’t be done instead of the endless possibilities of what might be accomplished?

Face it: innovation – trying something new – takes lots of work. And it’s easy to fail.

Yet the rewards for success are great.

Same thing for our job search.  We get caught up in the “I can’t do this”, or “That will never work”, and other negative thoughts.  Why not just say “Yes, I can try”?

At the very least, develop a plan that allows you to thoroughly think things through. Allow yourself to dream about the possibilities; the “What ifs?”

Developing a Big Idea to start a new business or searching for a new job or the riskier idea of changing careers are all challenging.   The question is, do you put in the hard work to go after your dreams or do you sit back in the safety and comfort of what you know?

Go for the positive attitude and the Big Idea.  You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.