The Prime Directive

Follow the Prime Directive

How would you like to lead a happier, more productive, stress-free life? Then listen very carefully, because in doing so, and following the Prime Directive, your life can be forever changed for the better!

As some of you might know, in addition to articles on sales, I’ve written extensively on the topics of positive thinking and achieving good health, wealth, and happiness. Over the years, I’ve written approximately one hundred articles, many of which were published in national magazines.

I have a very simple perspective on life. I believe every person has the right to be happy and enjoy their lives. Being happy and enjoying life, I call the Prime Directive. A famous entertainer, Gloria Estafan, who happens to be one of my favorite singers, says it all in I Just Want To Be Happy, one of the songs on Gloria, her latest album. Gloria may not have realized it, but she was singing about the Prime Directive. I believe our lives should be focused on achieving the Prime Directive, just being happy and anything that stands in the way should be fought with maximum intensity. One of the most important things a person can do to be happy is to have a positive mental attitude. I once wrote:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of a positive mental attitude on life. PMA, as it is called, is to me more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home or a person. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the PMA we will embrace. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Just like I protect my house from being robbed, by locking the doors and windows, I keep myself from being robbed of a positive outlook. I refuse to let other things or people take my positive outlook from me. That would be a direct violation of my Prime Directive. Only you can allow yourself to be victimized by external circumstances when it comes to your attitude. Refuse to let anyone, or anything, take it away from you. Keep your doors and windows locked!

Now I have a question for all of you. If I have something to give to you and you refuse to accept it, who does that something belong to? Return to sender. That’s right. The person who was trying to give it to you. In the same vein, if someone is trying to give you grief or annoy you, by whatever actions they may be using, if you refuse to accept it, it goes right back to the other person. To illustrate how true this is, think about this: One of the worst things you can do to a person trying to upset you is not to get upset because that only upsets them more, not you!

The power of self-suggestion by deep thinking can be amazingly effective in developing a positive mental attitude. In support of the power of deep thinking. Its a scientifically proven fact that thoughts can be turned into things. A person’s thoughts create measurable electro-magnetic energy levels that in turn create a magnetic force that, when combined with ones actions, help attract the things that we think deeply about. In effect, each of us are living magnets. We radiate thought energy and attract into our lives what we think about most.

In 1989, I wrote an article that was published in the nations largest magazine for sales professionals, Personal Selling Power. The title of the article was Your Mind Power. The first two paragraphs of the article also provide good pointers on helping develop Positive Mental Attitude:

I wrote: Mental obsessions have physical manifestations: Your body reacts to the thoughts and concerns of the mind. Your thoughts can make you sick or release endorphins which causes elation and good health. An emotionally upset individual is more prone to accidents and ill health than an emotionally stable individual.

How can we make sure we won’t become victims of our anxieties? Since the mind tells the body how to act, think the highest, most uplifting thoughts you can imagine. Here are some tips to help you use the power of your mind:

• Visualize positive situations.
• Think and speak well of your health.
• Use your power of visualization.
• Use positive self-talk on a daily basis.
• Don’t dwell on ailments or they will make a habit of recurring.
• Do some type of exercise, anything which promotes cardiovascular activity.
• Regular exercise can add ten years of healthy living to a person’s life.
• Set goals and use enthusiasm to reach them.

Another way to be happy and develop a Positive Mental Attitude is very simple: smile. Did you know when you frown, sigh, and droop your shoulders you trigger a physiological reaction in your body that causes you to actually feel upset?

On the other hand, researchers at the University of California Medical School have discovered that smiling causes a significant improvement in mood. The theory behind this is that smiling contracts, expands, and stimulates the blood vessels in your face, increasing the blood flow to the brain. As author Pane Pearsall says in his book, Super Joy, We smile to feel happy; we do not smile because we are happy.

Facial expression and body movement takes place before the feeling of an emotion, not after. For example, when we hear distressing news, we put a frown on our face and then feel upset. When we hear good news, we smile and then feel happy. We feel the way we think!

Try this experiment: Next time you hear something that gets you upset, put on a big fat smile, hold your back straight, your chin high, and think of a previous enjoyable experience, as you smile ear to ear. You will see how you’ll have the power to cheer yourself up!

In conclusion, we were all put on this earth to help others and enjoy life to its fullest. I believe the true meaning of life is the pursuit of joy and happiness, which is the Prime Directive. As Gloria Estefan sings, I just want to be happy! And one of life’s greatest joys is simply joy itself, which all comes from a Positive Mental Attitude. Whatever your joy may be, as long as it doesn’t hurt others, go for it!

Follow the Prime Directive. You only live once. Give it your best shot. Make your mind up to be happy. Don’t let anyone stand in your way! It all starts with a Positive Mental Attitude. Next time Mr. Negativity comes knocking on your door, throw the bum out! Remember, nothing, absolutely nothing, anybody or anything can upset you without your permission.