Improve Your Attitude with a Negativity Fast

Despite all of our challenges, we humans continue on our relentless upward trajectory. Things just continue to get better and better. That’s not suggest to that there haven’t been missteps along the way or that there won’t be many more. Surely there will be. But this isn’t the story that you find told on the news, regardless of the source.

The way that the events of the day are reported on television, on the radio, on the Internet, and in magazines would have one believe that the entire world is going to Hell in a hand basket. There is no “fair and balanced” reporting when the only things reported are negative, and sensationalized at that. It’s all negativity, all of the time.

I’m not suggesting that you pretend that there aren’t real problems or real tragedies occurring all around you. But it’s also not right to pretend that this is all that there is. If all you take in is negative, you end up with a very distorted—and negative—worldview.

To help improve the one thing that only you can control and that makes the biggest difference in your results, your attitude, go on negativity fast.

Avoiding Negative News

Fasting is good for you. It gives you time to remove things that are harmful, recover, and restore balance. This is true for your mind as well as your body. Take the week off of negativity, starting with the news.

No National Public Radio. No CNN. No Fox News. No Politico.

No New York Times. No Wall Street Journal. No Financial Times of London.

Nothing sensationalized.

Instead of taking in all of the negative events of the day, take in something better. Listen to music. Listen to an audio book. Work on your own personal development. Start a gratitude journal. Watch an inspiring documentary.

Ever meet a super successful person that is also super negative? Ever met anyone who was happy and grateful and who is also negative. I haven’t. I’ll bet you can’t think of one either.

Avoid Negative People

I sometimes find myself trapped by people that want to share problems and challenges with me, but always in a way that is negative. They want to blame or criticize someone else. They don’t really want help. They don’t have ideas as to make anything better; they really just want to complain. They are negative, and it can take its toll on your attitude, your outlook, and your mindset.

Do you have people like this in your life? Think their negativity isn’t having an impact on your attitude? Think again. Negativity is the only cancer that spreads by contact.

Maybe you can’t avoid the negative people in your life forever, but you can avoid them for a week. Or maybe you can tell them that you are in the middle of a “negativity fast” and that if they want to share with you that it has to be in a positive, meaningful way?

Take the week off of negativity in all forms.