I once had neighbor named Jimmy. We nicknamed him “The Most Annoying Person on Earth.”
Jimmy had an extraordinary skill of noticing and complaining about every possible problem in the world. Within 90 minutes of meeting him, we knew all about every neighbor’s vice, every injustice he knew about, every stupid rule or law, everyone’s name who had wronged him, and even conspiracies about the death of Janis Joplin.
Every chance encounter with him began and ended with rants about his landlord, corporate greed, the government, or the economy.
Exhausted and overwhelmed by his negativity and victim mentality, I was very careful to not “run into him” when coming home or departing.
It was that bad.
What I realized about Jimmy.
Then, I realized he had a special skill …he was an expert if finding things that made him unhappy. Jimmy was a problem finder… not a problem solver.
He just focused his thoughts on the wrong targets and his mind was filled limiting beliefs.
Jimmy’s unique ability to find only negative news was a well-honed skill.
Jimmy would use the rising cost of living to justify his ongoing unemployment and justify the fact he was a 65-year-old man who rode a bicycle to the grocery store because it wasn’t his fault couldn’t afford a car.
It wasn’t his fault he was a failed musician… he had a list of names who sabotaged him.
Know anyone like this?
His brain had turned into A Problem Radar, constantly sought out and magnified these issues. He was so busy finding problems, there was no room for happiness or solutions in life. He was a sad person.
3 Lessons From Jimmy’s Brain
1. Actively scanning for problems will inevitably find them, leading to an unending cycle of negativity.
2. The questions we pose internally have a massive impact on our mindset and worldview; Jimmy constantly asked himself who was to blame rather than how to solve the issue.
3. Noticing only the ‘bad news’ in the world and bathing in it daily can be toxic. This is like a fish in a fishbowl of dirty cloudy water. The fish will soon die, and his vision of reality is blurred with clouds of ick.
The Good and New Game
Luckily for me, I learned to control my thoughts and quiet those voices of blame and negativity years ago.
The easiest mental game I ever learned to play takes about 3 minutes a day and your whole family can play. It is a linguistic series of questions based in NLP taught to me by one of NLP teachers Rex Sikes.
It’s called The What’s Good & New Game.
It is a simple word game which forces your to answer the question “What’s Good & New”. When your brain is forced to focus on what is both good and new instead of what is bad and unfair… your entire worldview changes. Gratitude takes over. Appreciation abounds. Optimism is programmed.
The entire best-selling book The Magic Question is based on this technique. You can listen to the audio book and learn the entire process to create a magic question of your own. But, the specific technique is explained in under 3 minutes in this short video.
Action Steps
Watch the 3 minute Good and New Video and play the game today with your family.
Attend one of the upcoming live Masterclasses relating to the psychology of more success and happiness. There is probably one this week you can attend.
Join my community of optimistic and happy people. Surrounding yourself with successful people is the fastest way to start changing those limiting beliefs and see your life through a difference lens.
Learn more at Life Design Academy.org and attend a live zoom class this week.
http://www.lifedesignacademy.org/
As always, share your thoughts or stories with me by hitting reply.
I am always surprised and delighted by what a simple word game can do for anyone’s family.
Later
Bart Baggett
Author of Happy Wealthy Mind, The Magic Question, Success Secrets of the Rich & Happy and Founder of the Life Design Academy