The Power of Happiness
happens or what if this happens or, oh gosh, what if, what if.” The antidote: become a keen observer of your thoughts. It’s worked for me. And now, when what-if thoughts try and sneak into my mind I say, “No, no, no. I’m not going to let my mind go there.” Yes, I could focus on the negative and be stressed and worried about what could happen, but I decided years ago that I was no longer going to do that. You can focus on what might go wrong or you can focus on what might go right. Why not invest your energy in what can go right? I used to focus on the wrong outcomes, and this story from my personal hell illustrates the dangers of this focus. For years, I woke up at 2:00 in the morning because my mind was racing with thoughts. And for years I just thought this early-morning waking was a reason for my success. I’d wake up and I’d start thinking about all the things going on that day, and I’d think about what could go wrong, and I’d try to find solutions to them before the problems even were reality! Half the time I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep because I would get obsessed about these imaginary bad outcomes and become stressed. Then one day, I said to myself, “No more! I’m going to start tricking my mind and my subconscious by changing those negative thoughts I have when I wake up. From now on, I’m only going to focus on a positive outcome to these situations rather than creating negative outcomes in my mind.” And what happened? I was able to visualize success and happiness and finally started getting my much-needed sleep. It took some time to make the transition from negative to positive outcomes, but when I replaced that disempowering habit with the empowering habit, it eventually stuck. Trent Shelton is a former NFL player who is the founder of RehabTime, where each week through social media he delivers powerful, inspirational, and uplifting messages. Trent has tran- scended his career as a football player to become an amazing motivational speaker and inspirational leader. He may have been in the spotlight as a football player, but he has a much more visible and prominent role now as millions of people see his videos and posts each month. He gets tens of thousands of
173
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker