They tell you to "be positive." Here's how.

Cru’s Letter

You often hear people saying you should “be positive” but you might be wondering how…

Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of empty advice because sometimes positivity doesn’t feel accessible but that said, there’s definitely a way to experience negative moments without it spoiling the long term view of your life.

It’s called “consistently doing what you should.”

That might be insultingly simple but it’s true because when every day consists of showing up despite not wanting to, life has no option but to get better (that’s pretty positive.)

It really is crazy that people will tell you how to feel but rarely what you should actually do. I think it’s important to recognize that emotions are about as volatile as anything and unfortunately for most folks, that makes their behavior the same.

This is where I want you to be different. You can’t ignore the way you feel but you also can’t allow the way you feel to drive your behavior.

When you don’t want to go to the gym, go to the gym.

When you don’t want to write your thoughts, write ‘em.

When you’re feeling negative, behave positively.

If you do this consistently, you’ll find that you have more and more control over the direction of your life which makes short term negativity pretty innocuous.

Personally, I allow myself to be frustrated, sad, angry, etc. if that happens to be my genuine response to a situation. The reason I don’t have to tip toe emotionally is because I know it won’t disrupt my consistency and long term view of my life.

Have you ever heard the term, “when in doubt, zoom out.”?

In investing, it refers to the stress involved in looking at a stock chart on the 24hr view which may show a major dip in the price but when you zoom out to the lifetime chart, you realize how insignificant that dip is in the long run.

This is exactly how I see my life.

Because of my consistent efforts to grow and evolve, I have the assurance that life will continue to improve even if some days make it hard to believe.

To stay positive, I’m not using baseless affirmations or dishonest self-talk. I’m using the evidence that my way of life provides and it always tells a positive story long-term. Now, of course it takes a lot of work to actually build the evidence AND see life through the lens I described but the work is worth it.

Real positivity is a powerful thing and I hope to see you bring more of that into your life.

-Cru

P.S. I recently competed in an athletic competition in which my performance didn’t make me feel super positive but I learned so much about how I need to level up. You can watch the video below: