<p>Well.... people are of course going to say yes, but it's very hard for me to maintain a positive attitude. I don't think I have thought anything positive for a very long time. I just imagine the worst of every situation. And it really doesn't help that my self esteem is not that great. I think I'm just a natural pessimist?</p>
<p>People say that you should always have a positive attitude when dealing with anything... goals... school... work. But I just can't grasp how I can think positively and how that would affect me if I know I'm going to fail? </p>
<p>I just always think to myself.. "give up, you're not going to succeed." or "Look at my friends, they are the ones who are hard working. You aren't naturally hard working so just stop trying." or "I'm going to fail."</p>
<p>I know this is bad, but I just can't help myself from thinking like this?! Help?</p>
<p>I went through a short term version of your pessimism last year…I play ice hockey just about every day year-round (goaltender, specifically). Last year, I went through a period of time where I, to be terse, absolutely sucked in net. For 3 weeks all I could think about was how I’d let my team down, how I would never regain that confidence I’d had forever, and how all the other goalies seemed to be better than me. It took me a month to get over that…So, what did I do?</p>
<p>Well, sounds cheesy and cliché, but I surrounded myself by motivational words and phrases. I made a small board filled with goals, places I wanted to be able to visit, etc. Call it a “vision board,” if you will. Also, I went through a few magazines and found powerful quotes, cut them out and left them lying around my room. Whenever I was about to fall asleep, I imagined myself succeeding on the ice. After awhile, things turned around for me. I ended the season with the best GAA, Save Pct, and Wins amongst the other 18 goalies. </p>
<p>The mind is a powerful tool, what you feed it becomes reality. Tell yourself you can succeed, and you will. Tell yourself otherwise and, well, you’ll end up in just the opposite situation. Instead of saying to yourself “give up, you’re not going to succeed,” tell yourself that “You are the best. No one can tell me otherwise and I WILL succeed.” </p>
<p>Well, if you think negatively, then you won’t do all that great, because it won’t motivate you to study or work hard. But if you stay positive, then I think you’ll find yourself more motivated. If you give up, then of course you’re going to fail. </p>
<p>See a therapist? On a serious note though, it takes a lot of strength and mental perseverance to get through and change a pessimistic outlook. Like anything, you’ve got to start somewhere and practice, practice, practice. Especially for someone in your situation, it seems impossible. What exactly have you already tried doing to change your outlook?</p>
<p>@BPearlman97 I do find it inspiring to look up cheesy quotes once in a while, but I’ve never thought about having a board with everything on it! That’s a cool idea! Thanks :)</p>
<p>@BPearlman97 And I feel you on the hockey thing. Except I don’t play hockey, I play lacrosse! But this season I’m trying to just give my all into practice :D</p>
<p>Yeah it gets rough sometimes. I practice 4 times a week, 2 hrs each time. Then 2-3 games per weekend. When I got burnt out last season, it was just bad. I actually stopped played for a week and a half, just to get my head back together. It also helped to simply say aloud what I was feeling to my dad. </p>
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