LET’S ALL SHINE-The Power of Positive Thought

LET’S ALL SHINE-The Power of Positive Thought


THE POWER OF POSITIVE THOUGHT

What do your thoughts do for you? How are you thinking about yourself? How do you think about your loved ones, friends, colleagues, experiences? How do your thoughts make you feel? What would your life be like, what would your career look like, how successful might you be if every thought you had could be positive? In our experience as performing artists, teachers and as owners of a management agency we find that there is a mental pattern which prevents singers and truth be told, people in general, from the potential to have satisfying careers. It is a lack of positive thinking and positive mental attitude. No pun intended but, think about it. Some argue that the business is filled with successful artists who are not necessarily the ‘best voices’ or the ‘best singing actors’ but they are successful and more importantly they are happy. The important question to ask is why.

The answer we believe lies primarily in one’s ability to maintain positive thinking and positive mental attitude under all circumstances. Some singers are able to hold it together and not be affected negatively through criticism, through demanding schedules, through sickness, through any situation while others are not. Why? The answer is by consciously maintaining a positive mental attitude and by using the power of positive thinking. You have heard the phrase, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ right? This is actually a profoundly true statement. Maintaining a positive mental attitude will allow you to remain neutral in the face of any challenge or difficulty whether personal or professional. What does this mean? If you have a project that is a bad project for example, but you maintain a positive mental attitude and think positively, that project will turn into gold! Conversely, if you have an amazing project but have a bad or negative mental attitude and think negatively, that project will most likely not be successful.

According to Professor Barbara Fredrickson, a social psychologist from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and a researcher in human emotions for the past 25 years, a growing body of research is showing that positivity produces effects that can help humans flourish in all areas of life.

The human brain evolved with a “negativity bias,” says mindfulness expert Metta McGarvey, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Negative events and thoughts have a proportionally greater impact on our memory and psychological state than positive ones do.

Ok fine. So, say for example you feel stuck in some way with regard to your singing career, your musical life – whatever the case may be. How do you get past that? How do you get unstuck?

Dr. Joseph Michael Levry, Founder of Naam Yoga, the fastest growing yoga in the world today says “Everything that goes on in our external environment is a reflection of our internal landscape. When something is not working on the outside, go inside and put it in order. Only internal order can bring external order.”

In other words, stop focusing on what is outside of you. Focus on your internal world. What are you thinking? What is your mental attitude? What is your ‘monkey brain’ (which we all have, that talks, talks, talks, all of the time) actually saying to you over and over again? And how do you feel when you listen to it? One way to get unstuck in the wheel of negative thinking is to build positive mental habits. Our brain may be hard-wired to focus on the negative, but we can certainly, through our free will, reprogram our brain and teach it to accentuate positive experiences or practices. Practicing a positive habit daily and over time can help our thoughts to become more affirming and as a result our confidence increases, our health increases, creativity blooms and we become solution oriented in the face of challenges as opposed to focusing on the problem or challenge itself.

Here is a simple practice. Start every day with being thankful for everything you have and everything you don’t have. Yes, be thankful for what you do not have. Just try it. Carry this practice throughout your day. The truth is, no matter how down you may feel or stuck you may be, there is always something to be thankful for. Perhaps consider replacing any negative reaction and negative feelings you might have about not being cast in a role you want at X company for example, with being thankful for the fact that you could audition, that you are a wonderful singer, knowing that something better for you is going to come and that this is just part of the process. Living with this positive attitude filling your mind with positive thoughts, through the law of cause and effect, sets you up for future successes because you learn to maintain confidence in your musical gifts and in what you have to offer in this life. You are open to learn what you may need to help you score something bigger and better, while in that moment which is always something to be thankful for. Your positive mind takes over, your attitude is positive, you become happy and this is what acts as a magnet to draw the right opportunities to you.

Can you deal with a difficult situation when rehearsing and performing a role and turn it into a positive experience for you and perhaps even for all involved? For example, if the stage director or conductor is giving you what you perceive as a hard time are you able to look at it from a positive mental attitude – Perhaps he/she is only seeking to bring out the best in the music that is in you? Maybe he/she had a heart breaking experience just prior to your interaction? You never know what anyone else is going through so don’t take things personally, stay neutral and remain in a positive state of mind. Do your best and know you are doing just that. The truth may be that whatever is causing this may not be about you at all…

We do Naam Yoga meditation to help us build a positive mental attitude, to help us change negative thought patterns to positive and we find we become less reactive. You may find something else that works for you. The point is that each of us need to look at our internal landscape. What does it look like? Is it a beautiful garden that everyone wants to visit and be around or is it rotten and smelly – no one wants to go there. This simple awareness will affect your career whether you like it or not. We believe in rising above the natural tendency toward negativity. Positivity is a choice and encourages a heightened state of awareness. Just try it! It just might be fun! See what happens and let us know.

 

Let’s all shine!

 

Robert Mirshak

Robert Mirshak is President and Founder of Mirshak Artists Management, the classical artist management agency based in New York City whose mission is to make a positive difference in artists careers through work ethic, integrity and passion for the musical arts. He is an advocate for ethics in the music business, and represents international artists on a roster comprised mainly of singers but also of stage directors and conductors. 1173 Second Avenue #313, New York, NY 10065  www.mirshakartists.com