Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

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CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
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THE SOURCES OF 
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
There are four basic causes of negative emotions. According to the
Russian philosopher Peter Ouspensky, in his book 
In Search of the
Miraculous
, these are: (1) justification; (2) identification, (3) inward
considering, and (4) blame. The greatest leap forward in changing
your thinking and changing your life will take place when you sys-
tematically eliminate all four of these causes of negative emotions
from your life.
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STOP JUSTIFYING
Justification
is what you do when you rationalize or create a rea-
son for your anger and unhappiness. You tell yourself, and who-
ever else will listen, how badly you were treated and how
dreadfully the other person behaved. You continually rehash the
situation in your mind. You repeat all the reasons you have for be-
ing upset. Each time you think of the person or situation, you be-
come angry. You feel entitled to your anger, as if you have paid a
high price for it, especially since, in your estimation, you were
such a good and virtuous person.
The way you 
short-circuit
the natural tendency toward justifica-
tion and rationalization is by refusing to engage in it. Instead, you
stop justifying.You use your marvelous mind to think of reasons not
to justify your negative emotions. Remember, your negative emo-
tions do you no good. They are totally destructive. They do not af-
fect the other person or change the situation. They simply
undermine your happiness and self-confidence, making you weaker
and less effective in other areas of your life.
Instead of justifying your anger and unhappiness, you should
use your intelligence and imagination to 
excuse
the other person, or
to let go of the unhappy situation. For example, if someone cuts you
off in traffic, instead of becoming angry, you say, “Well, I’d better be
more careful next time,” “I guess he is having a bad day,” or “He
must be late for an important appointment.”