Getting Your Mind Right

You don’t do “poverty management,” you do financial management or wealth accumulation. Similarly, don’t manage stress. Instead, build peace.

In addition to the mindset of affirmative lifestyle, getting healthy thinking under control is an important part of Essential No. 1 as well. Constant stress and negative thinking suppress the body’s immune system, alter digestive functions, and cause the continual production of negative stress hormones.

Most people are drip-feeding negative, toxic thoughts into their system all day from the time they wake up: the TV news, the newspaper, the radio news on the way to work, and then the news at night. If you look at the front page of most major papers, the world looks like it’s going to end. So don’t look at it or listen to it!

Read, listen, and get help from others in the area of positive thinking. Do your best to surround yourself with the positive. Don’t write off stressful thoughts as normal for your situation. Be abnormal, be hopeful, and be optimistic.

You also need sleep. Your body heals when it’s at rest, and sleep deprivation throws off important hormones and brain functions, and releases bad stress chemicals. The average person is at least 365 hours short of sleep each year. Americans are also sick—so be different and get some rest.