Just how Powerful is the Power of Positive Thinking?

We’ve all heard about it, think positively and good things will happen. I never really believed in it all that much, but I recently watched an episode of Brain Games that dealt with the topic, and I was quite surprised. Side note: I checked out the show in the first place because Angela Baird, a friend I met at The Las Vegas Writer's Conference in April, was going to be on the show. You can see her briefly at approximately 10:16 - She's the cute blonde in the gray shirt who strikes a confident pose.) They claim that research shows that little things like smiling and changing your body language to more open and excited can have a great impact on your mood, your outlook, and even your luck. The episode showed a few tests to prove their claim and the one that impressed me the most went like this…

They brought volunteers to a basketball court in a park and had them shoot 10 free-throws. One of the subjects was a slight-framed woman and she missed. All 10. Then, they brought a small crowd in to watch, and the host blindfolded her. He asked her to shoot a basket blindfolded. She did, and although she missed, the crowd cheered as though she’d made it. The host had her try it once more, and the same thing happened. She missed. Crowd cheered. But, as far as she knew, she’d made them both in. The host removed the blindfold and had her try another 10 baskets. The crowd remained and cheered her on. This time, she made 4 of the 10. And on the ones she missed, she was much closer.

Next, they showed a guy who was really good. He made 9 of 10 on his own. They brought out the crowd and did the blindfold trick on him, and this time, the crowd booed. The host removed his blindfold and, even when he would make a shot, the crowd would boo and yell “lucky shot.” He continued and tried 10 free-throws. This time, he only sunk 5 of the 10. So, in a matter of moments, both performances were pretty remarkably changed, one for the better, one for the worse. So, maybe there is something to this positive thinking thing after all?

(Here is the video if you want to watch)

I know people who are extremely negative. They whine that nothing ever goes their way, they have the worse luck, boohoo, poor me… Well, maybe their attitude is why nothing ever goes their way.  When something does go their way, when good things happen, they don’t appreciate and acknowledge them. Perhaps if they did, their lives would be better and they would generate more positivity. I have always been a pretty optimistic person. I have tried to be upbeat and count my blessings, and overall, I am very happy. But I don’t think I’ve really fully committed and applied this theory to my life like I should. Maybe I’ll start thinking more positively, and I’ll become a world famous NYT best-selling author with a movie deal. If not, maybe I’ll at least get better at basketball. ;)