I am always fascinated by the people who lift huge weights, particularly in competitions like the Olympic Games. I often wonder what a weightlifter says to himself as he paces up and down, rubbing his hands with resin powder and taking huge breaths.

What if he says: "That looks really heavy - it's heavier than anything I've lifted before. I'll probably drop it, make a real fool of myself and even injure myself."

Do you know what will happen if he thinks such negative thoughts? Chances are that he will drop it, and perhaps injure himself as well.

Of course, he doesn't tell himself to fail. This weightlifter, who has trained for years to do precisely this thing, is probably saying to himself: "You're going to lift that bar and push it right through the ceiling! You're going to break the world record! You're going to win this competition and everyone in the world will see you doing it!"

In the day-to-day tasks that you face in your life, you should think as this sportsman does and tell yourself that you will succeed in whatever you do.

If you think negative thoughts, that's what your subconscious will focus upon. If you think illness, you'll become ill.

If you think gloom and doom - that's what you'll get. But if you think health, happiness and success - you're already halfway to achieving these.

As Abraham Lincoln once said: "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

We all face difficult situations in our lives, some people more than others. But even when things get tough, focus on the positive things in your life, the things you can do and not the things you can't.

Think about what you have achieved in the past, not what you haven't. Look at where you're going, not where you have been.

There's a story about a young man who really believed in the power of positive thinking. His workmates used to tease him and, of course, he was challenged by their taunts.

He told them one day that positive self-talk was so powerful that if he told himself he could fly through the air, he'd be able to fly.

"Prove it!" they cried. So off he went, up to the 20th floor of the building they worked in.

He jumped off and was heard to cry as he went past a 10th-floor window: "Well, it's all going great so far!"

It's one thing to be positive, quite another to be foolhardy. The lesson to learn is that in all the things we face in life, we should focus on the positive aspects.

Say, for example, a customer complains to you about some aspect of your product or service. It's so easy to think: "I've messed up, I'm going to lose this customer's business, this is a disaster!"

But it's far better to think: "Okay, I've made a mistake, what can I learn from this so that I don't do it again and improve my service standards even more?"

Ironically, if you apologise and go on to solve a customer's problem, he will forgive you and become even more loyal.

There will always be challenges to face with customers and the people who work with you. Focusing on the positive will make it so much easier for you to deal with them.

Article by Alan Fairweather, an associate consultant with d'Oz International based in the United Kingdom, and author of How to Get More Sales by Motivating your Team. For information on workshops, call 6391-3733, e-mail consultancy@d-oz.com or visit www.d-oz.com.

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