Brian Tracy's speech in South Korea(6)

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So we ask "What is the most importantquality for success, happiness and long life?" Can you guess what the mostimportant quality is? Well, the answer is very simple. In interviewing tens ofthousands of successful people they find the number one quality is the qualityof 'optimism'. Successful people are optimists. They're positive aboutthemselves and their future. They think about what they want most of the timeand they are what we called realistic optimist. That means they recognized thatthere are a lot of problems in the world but they are realistic and they areoptimistic about solving the problems and achieving their goals.

So what we learned is this, is that optimismis a quality of mind. And you can compare your mind with your body in this way.Is you can have physical fitness, just as you can have mental fitness. Now ifyou want to be physically fit, you exercise physically. That's how you becomephysically fit. And you must you might have to exercise for a long time. If youwant to become mentally fit which is if you want to become an optimist, youhave to exercise mentally as well. And so we find that optimists have threespecial ways of thinking that you can practice. And when you practice them youbecome an optimist. When you become an optimist, you are happier, you are moresuccessful, you have higher self-esteem and you like other people more, otherpeople like you and want to do business with you. When you are an optimist,every door opens for you. If you are pessimist, every door closes.

By the way before I tell you the keys tooptimism to learning how to become an optimist, can you guess what unhappy,negative, unsuccessful people think about most of the time? Well, the answer isthey think the opposite way from optimists. Optimists think about what theywant and how to get it. Pessimists think about what they don't want, theirproblems and who's to blame. Optimists think about the future and where they'regoing. Pessimists think about the past and who hurt them in the past. Optimistslet go of the past because they can't do anything about it. Pessimists holdonto the past because it's all they have. So your job is to let go of the past.One of the greatest rules for success in life is "Don't spend any timeworrying about something that you can't change." And you can't change thepast. So instead of worrying about the past and what happened and who's toblame and thinking about how you could've done it differently, instead let itgo and focus on where you're going. There's a wonderful little line that saysthis, "When you turn toward the sunshine, the shadows fall behindyou." Your job in life is to turn toward the sunshine which is to thinkabout what you want.

So here is the three keys. No.1. Think aboutwhat you want and how to get it most of the time. That will keep you positiveand optimistic. No.2. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the goodin every person. Look for the good in every difficulty. Develop the habit ofsaying the words "That's good!" whenever something goes wrong. Forexample, you find out that your house burn down. "Well, that's good"you needed house close to work anyway." Your car got stolen. "Well,that's good! The ashtray's full anyway." You lost your job, "Well,that's good!" because you didn't like the job anyway. So keep looking forsomething good.

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Let me ask you a question. Does anybody havein their home a dimmer switch that you turn up and down to increase the lightand lower the light? Does anybody have a dimmer switch at home? Okay, say"Yes." Everybody has a dimmer switch. If you don't have a dimmerswitch, you know what it is, alright? So you notice they have a dimmer switchin this room. They keep changing the lights up and down. The person who isoperating this dimmer switch is smoking something. So he's having a good time,he's turning the switch up and down.

Anyway, here's the rule. When you turn itdimmer switch up, it's bright. When you turn it down, it's dark. You have adimmer switch on your brain as well. When you think about what you want and howto get it, your dimmer switch goes on full. When your mental dimmer switch isfully lit, you're more creative, you're more positive, you have more energy,you are more personable and friendly, you are more intelligent. You are thebest person you can possibly be when your dimmer switch is on full. Andwhenever you think about what you want and how to get it, your dimmer switchgoes on full. Whenever you think or look for the good in a difficult situation,your dimmer switch goes on full. By the way here's the rule. If you look forsomething good in a difficult situation, you'll always find it. You'll alwaysfind it. You'll always find something good if you look for it. And when youfind it, your dimmer switches all go on full.