Each of our children has their own jar. Whenever they perform some act of kindness, complete a chore that is required of them, or do something unexpected and/or extraordinary, they receive a little plastic token to add to their containers. My wife and I decide what is token-worthy AND how many. Putting their dishes in the sink after eating may earn them one token… while sharing the last ice cream sandwich with their sibling without being told to, may earn them three.

Each token represents ten cents. Our children can use this money any way and whenever they would like. Sometimes, they save for something fairly costly, while sometimes they’ll use ten tokens to purchase something in the dollar section at Target.

Oh… did I mention they could lose tokens as well? A mean-spirited act may cost them big time. Not stopping to look before running across the street after being told numerous times to do so… well that could cost them all their tokens and the jar itself!

My wife says that I have a tendency to focus too much on subtracting tokens… times when they misbehave… rather than focusing on catching them doing something right, thus adding to their tokens. Perhaps she’s right… which got me thinking about how I view life in general.

Recently, I read in a book, “When attempting something new, ask yourself, ‘What is the WORST thing that could happen if you failed?’” You may have heard something similar to that statement before. But…

With my new POSITIVE outlook on life, I decided to reword that statement into an affirmative one: “When attempting something new, ask yourself, ‘What is the BEST thing that could happen if you SUCCEEDED?’”

Some immediate answers came to mind: The BEST thing that could happen…

• is that I’d prove to myself that I could do it.
• is that I’d conquer my fear of failure which would give me the confidence of trying new things more often.
• is that I’d accomplish something new that could benefit my family and me (I’m not talking just monetary).
• is that I could be outrageously and wildly happy and successful.
• is that I’d be doing something that perhaps was what I should have been doing all along… let’s call it my life’s purpose.

Are you stuck in a rut? With your career… career search… or just life in general? Take a different approach. Listen to the way you speak to yourself. Watch the way you react when faced with problems. Take what you do now and start looking at life through a different lens. A positive one.

For you Seinfield fans out there (and those that are not) I leave you with this hilarious video clip that demonstrates my point. Watch it... and I just may add a token to your jar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjXUgxR4Z10