Positive Vs Negative Mindset

Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts. (13:11)

Effort – Return Phenomenon (A Survey)

A survey indicated that 75% of business are failed in their initial 3 to 5 years and the major reason of business failures, about 90%, are executives. They are not genuinely prepared for the task in hand. 

Mindset – Behavior Duality

A person’s behavior is predominantly the outcome of his/her mindset. It affects the actions of a person and outcomes of efforts. Having a negative mindset or even a neutral will distort the actions and undermine the efforts.

How it works? Answer is simple, when a person has a negative mindset then he radiates negativity. It causes people to avoid / dislike / misinterpret him. Moreover, when a person is negative, he tends to see only obstacles. And when someone only sees obstacles or problems, he tends to feel stress. When a person is feeling lots of stress, he can’t be creative.

Effects of Mindset

A negative mindset undermines creativity, dynamism, and productivity. In contrast, a positive mindset allows someone to deal with threats/challenges with creativity, dynamism, and resourcefulness.

Mindset

A mindset refers to a framework of intentions, perceptions, and emotions held by a person so established that predetermines a person’s response to and interpretation of situations / persons.

Mindset is combination of intentions, perceptions and emotions. It has three powers for execution, i.e., will power, intellect power, and emotional power. These powers are essential ingredients of our mind. Equilibrium is necessary for the stability of mind pyramid; however, equilibrium may be wise or positive and unwise or negative
The positive or negative mindset is indicated when a person delivers a statement about or respond with some predictable exactness / exaggeration.

NEGATIVITY TRAPS

There are seven major negativity traps or vicious circles of mental framework that make up a negative mindset. We may call them doubtful, volatile, unjust, jealous, proud, fearful, and grief mindsets. The solution to avoid the vicious traps is to develop a mental framework with positive intentions, positive perceptions, and positive emotions. 

Positive intentions are developed with strong faith on Unity of Allah and unity of mankind.
Positive perceptions are established with knowledge.
Positive emotions are ultimate outcome of best manners/adab.
Lastly, a positive mental framework is finalized under the guidance of individual and collective wisdom.

Doubtful Mindset

A person faces a new situation/person and takes it with doubts without any scientific basis; it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of doubtful mindset are – doubt about personal strengths, expect failures, and doubt on ground realities. 

Volatile Mindset

A person faces a novel situation/person and loose mental stability and responds with volatile attitude; it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of volatile mindset are – lethargic response, impatient behavior, whimsical decision making. 

Unjust Mindset

A person faces an unfavorable situation/person and loose self control and responds with anger/leniency; it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of unjust mindset are – under or over estimations of abilities, excessive criticism on mistakes, and mild response on blunders. 

Jealous Mindset

A person faces a surprised situation/person and feels envy but responds with jealousy, it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of jealous mindset are – happy response on someone’s miseries, sad feelings on someone’s success, & defamation of opponent. 

Proud Mindset

A person faces a disliked situation/person and responds proudly without any scientific basis, it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of proud mindset are – perfectionist approach, slavery of habits, and dictatorial in decision making. 

Fearful Mindset

A person faces an unexpected situation/person and considers it a threat without any scientific basis; it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of fearful mindset are - fear of future, fear of criticism, and fear of failure. 

Grief Mindset
A person faces a new situation/person and feels frustration and respond with grief sentiments; it is indication of negative mindset. The other examples of grief mindset are – overwhelmingly critical behavior, pessimism, and disbelief on real success
.

Mind Anatomy

Nature equipped us with two types of mind, i.e., left and right. The left side is logical, analytical, and critical. On the other hand, the right side is intuitive, creative and synthetic. The left side is problem seeker while the right side is problem solver. Both sides have their own importance and significance.

In addition, we have two levels of mind - conscious and subconscious. The subconscious mind is filled with energy and power to do insurmountable tasks but is led by our conscious mind. Conscious mind makes selection from continuous stream of thoughts (negative & positive) and develop a working pattern or belief system for subconscious mind. It is a continuous process of selection and execution remain active in everyone’s life.

Self Suggestions

To avoid the negativity traps, self suggestion is the best tested technique. The words and phrases of self-suggestion should be real, constructive, energetic and dynamic. By continuous repetition we can make a positive image of self. A person can make his own list; however, we mention a few:

Allah acts justly and kindly,
Anything fruitful for humanity will must realize sooner or later,
Any right effort with right intent and methods will must produce good results,
There is no real / permanent threat only opportunities,
Any misery has blessing in disguise,
Success is not pursued, it is attracted,
Gratitude brings benefits,
Patience is best and fruitful strategy in difficulties, and.
Courtesy costs nothing but buys everything.

Positive Vs Negative Self Suggestions

Any positive suggestion is reacted by negative suggestion. A war is started in mind about these self suggestions with negative suggestions. The process remains active until a belief is not finalized. A belief may be negative or false and positive or true. A negative belief about something/someone, e.g., life is aimless, no real relationship is possible, the hells are always the others, success is impossible, miseries are permanent, benefits are short-lived, and difficulties are long lasting. A negative belief produces or breeds new negative beliefs and a negative belief system is developed. A negative belief system plays havoc with an individual or system or society. 

Solution to Negative Self Suggestions

There are two tested weapons for negative suggestions – Knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is a weapon used at conceptual level to counter negative suggestions/beliefs, while, the wisdom is applied at practical level. A suggestion based on knowledge and wisdom would be free from negativity traps. It is noteworthy that a rational person can make errors but not systematic errors. We learn from past errors / other’s errors and adjust our beliefs and actions accordingly.

Concluding Remarks

Positive thinking/mindset must be accompanied by actions such as planning, preparation and practice. 

Positive thinking/mindset must demand positive associations. Positive associations lead to creativity, cooperation, solutions, and bigger dreams. It’s often said that the books you read and the people you associate will determine where you’ll be in next three to five years.
The complete positive or negative mindset is a special phenomenon. In real life, we come across with partial positive or negative mindset. A person may be positive at some situations or negative at some other situations.

Solution to Multiple Life Hurdles

                   Solution (Internal Hurdles)

•    Any threat from self can be managed through personality development. These threats/hurdles can be grouped into two categories - theoretical and practical.
•    The solution to these problems is to develop positive mindset and wise working approach; the ultimate outcome of positive mindset and wisdom is fruitful results, i.e., success over internal hurdles.
•     The two major internal hurdles of an entrepreneur are – fear and grief. Fear pressurizes for inactivity and grief leads us towards some wrong activity. Fear is outcome of some expected future loses; while the grief is established due to some past failures.

Solution (External Hurdles)

•     In interpersonal links, we have to adapt two distinctive approaches- cooperation and competition.
•     In competition, we are aggressive but just in our interactive behavior. On the other hand, during cooperation we are firm but follow win-win strategy in social interactions.
•     Cooperation is best if it brings synergic benefits, and competition is better if it makes someone dynamic.
•     Whatever may be the interactive strategy we should consider the other person as a human and not a devil or angel.

Solution (Institutional Hurdles)

•     For Institutional hurdles, we must follow some institutional channels.
•     A civilized society has some institutions to tackle institutional hurdles, e.g., industry associations, business chambers, and judiciary. These channels are very effective to manage these bottlenecks. Any short-cut or rent-seeking will be converted into some bigger problem in future course of time.

Super Natural Hurdles

•     There exist, still, another type of hurdles that hamper or slows down our efforts. These are intangibles hurdles. The initiator and architect of these hurdles is DEVIL/SATAN. 
•     For supernatural hurdles, we have to utilize some unique strategic tools, neither available in managerial books nor taught in management centers. Islam has given the solution and imposed certain duties and obligations on his followers to counter these threats and challenges. Zikr (Remembrance of Allah), recitation of Darud Sharif, and charity to needy peoples of society are best and tested tools to counteract any hurdle or challenge posed by the immaterial evil forces.

This concludes this series. Stay tuned to my blog for new series.