One of the most popular ideas at work in the new age movement is that of the power of positive thinking; a philosophy shared by the leaders of the new thought movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s, including Wallace Wattles, Thomas Troward, Neville Goddard, Florence Scovel Shinn, Ernest Holmes, and Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. Since the early 2000s, this idea has grown in popularity thanks to the wisdom of our modern day new thought leaders like Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Joan Borysenko, and Rhonda Byrne.

The basic idea behind positive thinking is that our thoughts create our reality. The more you focus on something, the more energy you give it, therefore the more power you give it in your life.

Positive thinking is actually a process that involves changing how you think; it requires you to release any belief that you are a victim of circumstance, and become a conscious co-creator who makes choices and then acts on them. But to make the power of positive thinking work in your life, you have to understand a few things other things first.

Everything is Vibration
You have a vibrational state and it changes from moment to moment. AND, you can feel it happen when it does. You have awareness of your vibrational state through the physical experience of your feelings. For example, if you have ever felt shame, you know that it is very different from the feeling of joy. And anger is different from peace. Yes, it’s emotion. And, emotion has a vibration. Lower vibrations suppress the expression of health in the body, and higher vibrations support the expression of health in the body. That’s why stress is so damaging to physical health!

Remember your energy goes where your attention flows
Have you ever noticed that once you notice something, you’ll see it everywhere? Years ago my daughter wanted to purchase a hoodie (a sweat shirt with a hood). I’d never noticed hoodies before until the day we went shopping for them. Then, I started seeing them everywhere! This is because when we give ourselves a command, like “find a hoodie,” our brain (which is basically a computer) starts acting on that program and runs a constant search! So, if you start complaining, your brain will do a search, and find more things for you to complain about. By thinking about the things that you appreciate, your brain goes into search mode to find more things to appreciate.

So your thoughts and feelings do affect you. Not only do they program your brain to keep searching for specific experiences (whether they are good or bad), but those experiences then impact your physical body. This is so important because when you have this awareness, this makes all the difference between making conscious choices or just reacting to a situation!

When people react to a situation, this is unconscious – which means it’s an automatic response. And when you have an automatic response, it’s not necessarily always the best response. In fact, more often it’s serving the fearful part of your personality.

When you make a conscious choice it’s a thoughtful process; you think it through. And it’s not about serving the personality (that’s limitation) it’s about serving the Soul (which in turn, serves humanity).

So positive thinking is actually the process that empowers you to make choices that serve your divinity – and your ability to make a choice is always going to be your greatest asset!

Can you see why a practice of positive thinking is so important?

However, if you are experiencing a particularly difficult time in your life, shifting from negative thinking to positive thinking can be hard!

So here are a couple of tips to help get you started.

Practice Gratitude
Expressing appreciation is a powerful way to shift your vibrational state, however many people poo-poo the idea of practicing gratitude because it seems trite.

When you give thanks, you actually expand your own consciousness to better receive the divine inspiration that guides you to your brightest good. Besides, when you spend more time appreciating things, you just feel better.

Practice Living Complaint Free
This is a particularly powerful practice that supports the act of appreciating. When you complain about something, you actually risk slipping into a disempowered state. And, you are sending a program to your brain to find more things to complain about. That’s why right this moment you can think of someone who seems to complain all the time, and all they EVER do is complain. Right?

Have you ever heard this phrase:

You are either part of the problem, or part of the solution.

When we slip into complaint mode, we become part of the problem. Only when we move into problem solving mode can we actually become part of the solution. Make a commitment to go complaint free, and become part of the solution.

Just Say YES and thank you.
Literally say it: yes, yes, yes. And say it about thirty times. Out loud. This is a powerful exercise when you feel like you can’t find something to be grateful for. Start with yes, yes, yes, then move to thank you, thank you, thank you. Say it out loud for about five minutes, and FEEL the difference it makes!


Positive thinking is so much more than thinking a positive thought. It is actually a powerful practice that takes a high level of commitment. Positive thinkers are not new agey Pollyannas living in denial. A positive thinker is simply someone committed to expanding their own consciousness, and bringing more love into the world.


If you are interested in reading more about the importance and practice of gratitude, and exercises you can do to help increase your every day practice of appreciation, here are two more articles for you to enjoy:

Gratitude and Expectancy – and Angel Message:
Did you know you can only receive what you are receptive to? Read on to find out what the angels have to say about receiving something bigger and brighter than you imagined.

Giving Thanks
Gratitude is a powerful force for shifting our level of consciousness. Read more to find out ways to make gratitude an easy and fun part of your day.