P.M.A. for Authors

What is P.M.A.?

P.M.A. is an acronym for Positive Mental Attitude. This concept was first introduced in 1937 by Napoleon Hill and has been adopted as the key to success by all the greatest motivational speakers from Tony Robbins to Zig Ziglar. So, how does this concept relate to a professional writer or a published author?

“Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles Swindoll

A successful author’s life can be difficult, and without a positive attitude, most fail miserably. Some aspiring writers face a pile of rejection letters as tall as a stack of books. This type of disappointment can be devastating if you don’t have a positive mental attitude prepared to deal with the rejection.

The great literary master, Henry James, began each day by repeating the following affirmation in front of the mirror twelve times.

“I am the best writer.”

I highly encourage you to do the same. Add in your genre and repeat it every day. By telling yourself that you are the best fantasy fiction writer every morning, you are slowly programming yourself to become just that.

P.M.A. will carry you through the dreaded “author slump” that occurs during the book writing process. Many people don’t realize that after the first 8,000 words, the excitement wears off, and it’s hard for some writers to keep going. Unfortunately, 8,000 is not a completed book, so having a positive mental attitude during this slump will pull you through this slump.

There is a great book titled, “As a man thinketh” by James Allen. This book dives into the concept that we, as humans, become what we think about consistently. If we always think about the negative things, then this will snowball into a giant mess. How many of you can relate to this? I’m sure you all can. It’s human nature to dwell on the bad and completely ignore the good.

What people don’t realize is, your thoughts determine your emotions, your emotions determine your actions, and your actions become your reality. So thoughts truly shape your world.

Thoughts —> Emotions —> Actions —> Reality

What if you could completely change your world by developing a positive mental attitude? What would your world be?

Tony Robbins has a great saying that I have taped to my mirror. He says, “Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows.” When trying to explain this concept to my fellow writers, I ask them this question. What is life? Your life consists of energy. You only have so much of it before your eyes grow dim, and life ends. When you focus on negative, you are literally giving that negative person or situation a piece of your life. Think about it. Does that hateful coworker deserve a part of your life? Does that problem deserve a portion of it? The answer is a resounding, NO!

How To Develop A Positive Mental Attitude:

Visualization
Affirmations
Gratitude
Optimize Your Environment
Transform Self-Talk

What is visualization, and how can it help you to develop P.M.A.? Visualization is simply using your imagination to visualize what you want instead of using your imagination to blow the negative out of proportion. Take a few moments to imagine what life would be like if you were a New York Times bestselling author. What would that do for you? How would it feel?

Next, create a vision board of things that you want to have in your life, whether it’s a new house or a significant other. If you’re going to be a New York Times Bestseller, print out the image and post it on your vision board. When the board is complete, place it where you will see it every day.

How can affirmations help a writer? It’s merely a matter of subconscious programming. If you tell yourself that you are a N.Y.T. Bestselling author, you will start to behave like one. Your actions will then lead to the fulfillment of that reality, whether it takes one year or ten, the affirmations will lead you to your desired outcome.

Gratitude is the key to flipping from a negative mindset to a positive one. When you find yourself in a bad situation, it’s hard to be positive. There’s an old proverb that says, “In everything give thanks.” Well, people have taken this out of context, and an say we should be thankful for everything. It doesn’t say that at all. It says “IN” everything give thanks. It means despite the negative situation, we should look around and find something that makes us grateful.

Optimize your environment is a phrase I heard when I started studying with my multi-millionaire coach Christan Mickelsen. He talks about how you need to optimize both your physical environment, but also your human environment. Who do you spend the most time around? Are discouraging your dreams, or are they pushing you towards them?

The last way is to transform your self-talk. Tomorrow I want you to take note of all the things you tell yourself. We have this voice in our heads, and it can ruin your day, your year, and even your life when it’s negative. Take note when your self-talk is negative and flip it to a positive thought. If you keep this up long enough, you will reprogram that inner voice to look for the positive.

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