Positivity Challenge: How to Create a Junk-Free Mental Diet

“Before we can make deep changes in our lives, we have to look into our diet, our way of consuming. We have to live in such a way that we stop consuming the things that poison us and intoxicate us. Then, we will have the strength to allow the best in us to arise, and we will no longer be victims of anger, of frustration.” – Thich Nhat Hanh, Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames

Think about the last time you were really unmotivated, like life was against you, and had a bit of the dreaded “D word” (depression).

You might feel like that now, even as you read this.

There’s many reasons for that…but have you ever considered what you’re taking in on a daily basis?

Such as your mental diet?

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What is a Mental Diet?

Most people have heard of a physical diet, as in the foods they eat on a daily basis.

But ask people what they think a mental diet is – some will have a clue, most will have not even the slightest idea.

A mental diet is composed of the thoughts and information you absorb on a daily basis from other sources and minds. Just like a physical diet, a mental diet can be curated to fit the needs and tastes of the person consuming it.

However, most of the time – that’s just simply not the case.

Consequences of a bad mental diet

In our information-rich world, many people absorb information carelessly without properly digesting it or even thinking about its origin.

This lack of intention causes many people to have wayward thinking errors and look at themselves and life in a completely negative and even incorrect, manner.

Your paradigm of the world is influenced (and even constructed) from the information you consume on a daily basis. If the information you put into yourself is bad, your life outcome will be – well, bad.

This will inevitably prevent you from changing your life and doing the things required to live a happy and fulfilling life.

But why would anyone do this to themselves?

You Are Primed For Negative Thinking (AKA Why Positivity Is So Hard)

There are three reasons why its so hard to have a positive mental attitude:

Biological defenses
“First-world adaptation“
Attention grabbing media

Biological defenses

Everyone living on planet Earth is the descendant of humans who lived in very harsh conditions.

Food was scarce, mating opportunities were scarce, and threats to survival were everywhere.

Out of this long expanse of time came things like reward-motivated behavior and other quirks of human psychology that are survival-oriented. One of these quirks is a bias for negativity.

In an environment of extreme scarcity, it makes a lot of sense (too much sense, actually) to have a negative orientation to life rather than a positive one.

Think about it. Don’t you think it would be better if you were on guard when you heard a rattling in the bush rather than just saying:

Hah, it’s no problem!

The former could have saved your life, the latter may just make you lunch for an animal or a target from a rival clan who wanted to get rid of you.

The humans who had a bias for negative threats in their environment survived and the ones who didn’t…didn’t.

In modern terms, this is the guy who thinks doomsday is right around the corner, so he stockpiles food constantly or the guy who thinks everyone is out to get him so he keeps “one eye open“.

This bias for negativity is unnecessary in our super-safe and materialistically abundant world (especially the 1st world) which makes it mal-adaptive for our current environment.

First world adaptation

Part of this genetic lineage is also the blessing and curse of adaptation.

Human beings can adapt to just about any situation in the short and long term which explains things such as skin color and habits.

It also explains how someone’s environment can become little more than background noise to them over time, as well.

In this case, the environment is the first world environment, giving rise to “first world problems”.

Many people in the first world have not had to grow up with constant war, coup d’etats, unfair leaders, and other things that plague developing countries.

Compared to these things, someone messing up your order at Sonic, having a girl reject you, or being yelled at by your boss seem like walks in the park.

But to the average person in the first world, these are all things to bitch about because they seem like the worst things of such a do-or-die nature.

As Seneca said:

When pleasures have corrupted both mind and body, nothing seems tolerable – not because the suffering is hard…but because the sufferer is weak.“

Simply put: many people do not know how to manage their mind.

Attention grabbing media

Our media is designed to play off of the negativity bias by serving up shock-inducing headlines every hour upon the hour.

Disgust, rage, intrigue, appall, and all other negative (or at best neutral) emotions are exploited by the entertainment media for ratings, clicks, and ad impressions. Think of it as a form of suggestion or autosuggestion.

You’re absorbing the news’ view, their mentality, their paradigm of the world when you’re in a slightly suggestible state (staring at a screen).

They’re telling you how the world is and how it should be, not giving you any chance to come to your own conclusions.

Doesn’t that piss you off?

The more negative information they feed you and the more addictive emotions they bring out of you, the longer you’ll spend on the screen.

You’re just a pawn in the game and they’re playing you like a fiddle.

The Mental Diet Alternative: The 7 Day, 14 Day, or 30 Day Positivity Challenge

At some point, someone who wants to play big with their life needs to ask themselves how they’re going to buck this trend.

If you want to expand, the mainstream mental diet isn’t going to get you there.

There’s just too much negativity and self-limiting beliefs in a lot of mainstream media. It doesn’t give you the right fuel to get to your destination, especially if the end is far and the road is long.

Enter the positivity challenge.

A positivity challenge is a period of time where you think mostly or completely positive thoughts and re-frame negative thoughts to be more positive.

Books such as Tony Robbin’s Awaken the Giant Within, Emmett Fox’s 7 Day Mental Diet, and Neville Goddard’s numerous works all talk about mental diets and positivity challenges – especially how you can influence yours for the better.

In extreme cases, you don’t entertain any negative thoughts.

Now, it would be an understatement to say that this is really tough.

It’s something that requires self-awareness and introspection.

But in the mean time, here’s how you can start a positivity challenge and intentionally create your mental diet.

Decide to do it.

Nothing starts until a decision is made.

You need to make a decision to go and do the positivity challenge and create a positive mental attitude.

Decide you will stick to it. How long are you doing to do it? 7 days? 14 days? Even a 90-day challenge?

Make that challenge, stick to that date, and do everything you can to make it through.

Decide you will try to find good in every situation.

Look for the silver linings.

In every situation that happens to you, there’s a little bit of “bad” and a little bit of “good”.

One example: you ask a woman out, she rejects you. On the surface that seems negative and you can even concoct a whole story about how she’s a bitch, how you’re unattractive, etc.

Instead of doing those mental gymnastics, look at it like an opportunity to improve yourself. She did you a favor. She gave you data you can use for your next approach. Who knows – she might even be a terrible person…

So look at it as “wow, this is so cool. More data to optimize my efforts so I can find the right woman for me.”

Stop watching the news.

Simply put – the news is garbage. The news is designed to create shock, fear, and negativity. It’s not designed to make you a happy and well-balanced person.

If you want to know what’s going on nationally, take a look at the headlines, get a few bits of the story and that’s it.

You’re much better off following local news, so you can know what’s going on in your area.

Social media is another platform where clickbait is king. Usually, the content on social media doesn’t contribute in any way, shape, or form to a holistic mental diet and may even be detrimental to you as a person.

The best solution would be to “go dark” on social media entirely, but I know that’s not an option (or even a want) for most people.

In this case, you would drastically reduce the time you spend on social media. If you were spending 10 hours a week on it, cut it down to 1 hour a week.

Go on monk mode.

Monk mode is the process of taking one’s attention (usually externally focused) and forcing it inward and using it to consciously examine your life.

During a period of monk mode, you drastically limit or even completely eliminate your media consumption.

You can learn more about it in the Guide to Monk Mode.

Read and consume valuable information.

Read uplifting stories and sources of news. Read personal development books. Read things in your field that will help you make more money and improve your standard of living.

You want to make it easier to make it so that you can live a productive life and one of positivity, rather than just thinking about your problems and general negativity.

Conclusion + Wrapping Up

However, you are primed to lose because of your inbuilt negativity bias and a culture that promotes negativity.

You have to make the conscious decision to go on a positivity challenge. This involves thinking positive thoughts and doing measures such as:

Deciding to do it.
Looking for the silver linings.
Stop watching the news.
Going on Monk Mode.
Reading and consuming valuable information.

These will help you become a more positive, peaceful, and productive person.

And if you need help on starting a good mental diet, check out the course, Cornerstone. It’s stuffed full of good ways to help you orient your psychology in a positive way towards self-development.

If you want more information on it, check out the link below.