Matthew Ferry's Blog

As a life coach, my job is to support my clients in eliminating negative emotions and utilizing positive emotions to their advantage.

Maintaining a positive mental attitude is difficult because most people are taught to rely on the mind to create this attitude.

Big Mistake

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but being positive is not the mind’s job. Therefore, to “try” to think positive is a full-time job because it contradicts the mind’s real purpose.

The Mind’s Job is Not Positivity

Your mind, which I like to call The Drunk Monkey, is a biological mechanism designed to steer the body clear of danger.  Its primary motive for thinking is to look good to others, to be important, avoid embarrassment, outsmart, out-think, acquire, accumulate and accomplish.

Now it does way more than what I’ve mentioned but I don’t have 10,000 words in a blog post. . Check out my class Transforming Fear into Action for a complete examination of The Drunk Monkey’s motives and how to get past them.

So here’s the bottom line. All that talking in your head is designed to keep you alive longer. The problem is that you will die no matter what you think. You will not out-think death.

Now what does this have to do with having a positive mental attitude? If you can see The Drunk Monkey for what it is, a nonstop talking machine trying to keep you alive in a world where you are definitely going to die, then you can stop listening to it in non-dangerous situations.

Most people experience negativity when the world contradicts their opinion of how things “should” be.

For example, talking to your boss is not dangerous, asking someone to help you is not dangerous, and following your dreams is not dangerous.  The quickest way to maintain a positive mental attitude is to see the mind for what it really is.  See the world for what it really is: it is not dangerous.  See people for what they really are: innocent and doing the best they can.  Try it today and see how much better life is.