When was the last time you did some dedicated physical exercise?

Many people have realised that our busy and stressful lives need some balance. They are flocking in droves to gymnasiums all over the country. Others are even engaging Personal Trainers who, themselves, are experiencing boom times in the international quest for fitness.

It seems that people everywhere are becoming increasingly conscious of their physical condition. Everybody wants to feel younger and look younger. But what about mental conditioning? Sadly, too many people do not have time to build mental muscles by educating themselves. Sure, Joe and Jane Citizen read newspapers, watch television and listen to radio programs. But is that education? It could be argued that these media are a form of negative education. You see, most of the news flowing through to us is full of doom and gloom.

Negative sells. Editors know this. They also understand that most people are negatively tuned. That is why they skew their editorials with a negative disposition. We see glaring headlines like "Car Crash Kills Six" or "Fourteen People Die in Suicide Bombing."

For most people, doom and gloom is eminently believable. The more they are fed, the more they believe.

Try this little test:

Assume somebody called you and informed you that you had just won a big lottery prize. Then, directly after, somebody else called you saying you were the subject of a tax audit. Which story would you be inclined to believe?

Let's now qualify this a little more. What if you knew absolutely that you had bought that lottery ticket from an outlet that has a history of selling winning tickets, and you also knew absolutely that your tax return had been filed by a highly competent tax accountant? What would your instinct tell you to believe?

Understand this - the power of negative is far more powerful than the power of positive. It is so easy to let that little self-talk gremlin inside your head influence you in a negative manner.

Many years ago I read a wonderful book which dealt with this very matter. It was called "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself" by Shad Helmstetter. If you want to know more about what you tell yourself then I highly recommend that you read this book. In it Helmstetter tells us that "as much as seventy-seven percent of everything we think is negative, counter-productive, and works against us". He also states that "programming the brain with a more successful new picture of yourself is the most sensible" way to success.

Any good book store will be able to supply a copy of this book for you. If you have any difficulty tracking it down then you can always quote its unique identity code. (Here it is: ISBN 0 7225 2511 7)

Giving yourself a mental "check up from the neck up" will certainly make you aware of the dangers of allowing too much negative news to permeate and influence your thoughts. Think about it. We are constantly bombarded with negative messages from the moment we arise in the morning to the minute we fall asleep at night. Still don't believe me? Here's another little test:

Get this morning's newspaper. Open it to the first three pages (these are the pages that the Editor of the newspaper considers are the most important). Find a red crayon and a blue crayon. Put a red border around all the bad news. Then take your blue crayon and do the same for any good news stories (if you can find any). Now compare the area bounded in red by the area bounded in blue. What do you find?

You need to be aware of this constant battle between positive and negative. There is a competition between the two for the space each occupies in your mind and thought processes.

The more positive thoughts you can put into your brain the less you will be influenced by the army of doom-sayers.

When you believe in the power of positive, a strange thing begins to happen. You start to attract good things into your life like a magnet! Read Dr Helmstetter's excellent book "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself" and give yourself that "check up from the neck up."

[If you like this article and would like to use it on your own website or ezine you may do so ONLY if the article is not changed in any way and the final paragraph: "About the author", with all links intact, is included.]

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."