Almost every motivational author on the Web says you have to change your attitudes to live a fuller, happier, and more successful life. You know it already, but how do you change your attitudes? They aren't like socks, which you can change everyday! Also, your definition of success or happiness is uniquely yours. How can someone else show you the path to it?
Let me confess that I don't consider myself a great motivational thinker, but I have already achieved three out of ten goals of my life through this simple solution, and I know I will achieve the others in due time. Without further suspense, here is my simple and yet highly effective whiteboard solution.
Get a whiteboard and hang it on your living room wall. Now write down all the positive things you wish you were. Write in the first person, present tense, and in the affirmative. For example, write “I am the best employee in my office”, if that is what you want to be, or write “I am kind and considerate towards my parents”, if that is what you are NOT but you want to be. There is a reason why you have to hang it in the living room. It should be visible to others. Don't worry if they laugh at you or call you foolish or a liar. You don't have to argue or explain why you are doing it. You don't even need to know why you are doing it. Just request them politely to let it hang there so you can read it every now and then. Don't worry if sometimes you do something contrary to what you have written. Just stand in front of the whiteboard and read it once more keeping your eyes shut. Yes, you know it so well you don't have to open your eyes to read it.
All this while - let me emphasize here that it is extremely important - avoid consciously thinking or planning about what you have written. You have to believe that it is already there, as an undeniable fact, as writing on the wall. You don't need to plan or make an effort for something that you have already achieved, do you? The only conscious effort you may need to make, especially in the initial days, is to read what you have written at least twice a day. But is that a big effort? I don't think that is an effort at all. After a few days, it will get into your routine, and you will read every time you pass by it. And after a few more days, you will just read it quickly in your mind the moment you come near it, without even seeing if the whiteboard is actually there.
Is there any restriction as to what you can write about yourself? No, there are absolutely no restrictions. Just don't write something that you really do not want to be. It is a huge risk.
Do you have to do this all your life? In fact, you will be so pleased with the quick and positive changes in your life that you would like to continue doing it all your life. What you may want to change is your fact list (Yes, it is your fact list. Never make the mistake of calling it your wish list!). When is the right time to change your fact list, or should you do it at all? Of course, you can change your fact list, but not until you get a certificate from others. If you wrote, “I am the best employee in office”, you can change it only after you are awarded "Employee of the Year" in your office. Or if you wrote “I am kind and considerate to my parents”, you can change it only after you hear your parents telling their friends that you are very kind and considerate to them.
I agree that publicly displaying your fact list, which are less than facts to others, can be embarrassing to you. But remember that it is a negligible price for what you are going to get through this.
Finally, you may not believe in this whiteboard solution! But, after reading this, you should never say that nobody ever showed you a concrete path to your goals. You can of course say that you were shown a way and you simply ignored it or chose not to believe in it. You can't even say that it was a difficult path, for nothing could be easier than this. It is your choice and your belief. You are a product of your choices and beliefs.
I strongly believe that some of you will adopt this whiteboard solution and achieve your important goals. I know you will; just don't forget to give me credit for introducing you to the whiteboard :-) .
