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CHAPTER 1 / FORGET JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU WERE EVER TOLD ABOUT POSITIVE THINKING18 NO B.S. Guide to Succeeding in Business by Breaking All the Rulesversions of the %u201cthoughts (alone) make things%u201d was heavily promoted and rose to mainstream popularity. Its author was on The Oprah Winfrey Show, her book and film heartily endorsed by Oprah. It promised what people lust for, but shouldn%u2019t: a simple solution to complex problems or opportunities. THE Secret. But, to be what people promoting it might accuse me of%u2014%u201cnegative%u201d%u2014I promise that there is no one secret; that the only success with complex problems or opportunities comes from complex solutions. I wrote an entire book about this, No B.S. Guide to Wealth Attraction, with 28 Wealth Magnets. Not one. About half are about what and how you think, but the other half are about what you do. Some might consider this negative. I just consider it truth. I remember getting my first brand-new car. I had owned and driven a sequence of really pitiful junkers, out of necessity. In fact, I bought my first car for $25, my second for $300. In both cases, I got my money%u2019s worth, so you can imagine what I was driving around in. Well, when I got my first brand-new car, it was a great disappointment to discover that the birds crapped on it with impunity. That seemed unfair. If I were setting up the system, I%u2019d restrict the birds to crapping only on old, cheap, ugly cars. But birds crap democratically and indiscriminately. They%u2019re not alone in that trait.You can think positive all you want and you are still going to spill coffee on your new tie, get a flat tire, get cut off on the freeway, lose a big sale, get cheated, and be disappointed from time to time. Positive thinking is not about eliminating all of that from life. It is a tool to be used to more effectively cope with such events, as one of an entire toolbox of tools.People who believe you can prevent problems with positive thoughts like some magic amulet hung around the neck wind up cynical, negative thinkers. People who use positive thinking like kids use whistling in the dark to keep bogeymen away are doomed to disappointment and depression. People who insist on walking around with eyes closed to %u201cthe negative%u201d are just as likely to walk in front of an oncoming bus as they are to fall into a bed of roses.
