TRY THIS: Talk more about what's going well in your life. (And watch what happens next.)

Mark, what do you want to talk about?
 
Business, most of the time anyway.

Why?

Because that’s what I want to be better and better at — it's always business I want to talk about, unless there’s something else in my life I want to improve.

What sort of ‘something elses’ do you mean?

Relationships, I often think I'm not doing well in that department, oh and my books too, I worry about whether they’re changing the lives of as many people as I intended them to. So when I talk, I want to do it about the things I want to improve.

Yes.

Yes what?

Yes, that’s what you want to talk about. You do it with me and with others.

And?

And I have a question. What if you talked about the things that are going well instead of the things that need improving? What if you talked about the things that are going fantastically well already?

Well, most things are right now, of course, that’s the weird thing. After ten years of this crazy back and forth conversation with you, finally, most things in my life are going better than they ever have before…

And yet you still want to talk about the things that aren’t going as well as you’d like?
 
Well, yes, because they aren't going as well as I’d like.
 
Why not?
 
Because nothing ever is, that’s what drives me, God, to make things go better, I’m always looking for areas to improve.
 
And that’s a great driver, to improve your own life and the lives of others, to make things better -- and to make better things.
 
Ok, cool, so we’re agreed then?
 
With respect to your drive to improve, yes, but not about how to achieve it.
 
How do you mean?
 
Here’s an experiment, something to try that will revolutionise your performance.
 
Now you’re talking my language, God.
 
Good. Try this. Talk about everything that’s already going well, the things you’re thankful for. Measure what happens, take note of the day we had this conversation and measure the improvements from then on -- the improvements that come from talking about how well things are going already . Try doing that instead of talking about what’s not going so well.
 
But I’m not very thankful, God, not yet anyways.
 
Aah, the truth, such a wonderful thing, so healing.
 
What are you getting at? You’re making me uncomfortable.
 
Your comment that you’re not very thankful, ‘not yet’, that's a great truth to recognise. You’re waiting for things to be thankful for aren't you?
 
Well yes.
 
Here’s the thing, Mark, you’re likely to have even more to be thankful for if you’re thankful now. You’re likely to improve all the things you want to improve if you talk more about the things that have improved already.
 
Doesn’t make sense, God, it’s not logical. And it seems too arrogant.
 
It’s not arrogant at all and it makes loads of sense – talking about what you’ve already achieved builds your confidence in yourself and in me. Have a look at how David strengthened himself, he recounted to himself all the things he and I had achieved together. Confidence is what carries a person to greater achievement, carries them to do the things they came to do. You can feel confidence on anyone who is making a difference. And it makes huge sense in the invisible realm where the real power is.
 
You mean the spiritual realm?
 
Yes, but not just in the way you Christians think of as ‘spiritual’. I mean in the invisible realm of the imagination, the power of thought and dreams and expectations. You can’t see any of those things with the naked eye, but when you see them in the invisible, when you see your thoughts, dreams and expectations, and you’re thankful for them before they happen, they are more likely to happen.
 
Ok, but there’s something else you wanting to say. You haven’t said it yet.
 
I have, but you haven’t spotted it. Here it is. You don’t like the whole gratitude thing, it’s a bit too ‘warm and fuzzy’, for you. That’s fine. If you’re uncomfortable with too much gratitude, try this, practise talking about how well things are going, practise focusing on the incredible improvements you and I have made in your life, business, and books. Don’t look for what needs to improve, look for what has improved already. And talk about it. Often. You’re a talker. You talk things into being. Talk about what’s going well and more will.