The idea that having positive thoughts could actually bring positive circumstances into our lives may sound too farfetched to take seriously. How could real-life circumstances possibly be manifested by something as intangible as thought? Here is the story of a young woman who had these exact reservations, and how getting past them enhanced the quality of her life for good:

In 2012 I found myself floundering as an aspiring writer with no real job prospects and a chilling amount of student debt. While housesitting for a neighbor, I spotted a book on positive thinking, and out of desperation, I read it.
With the tiniest amount of faith, I took some simple steps towards positive thinking, hoping for the best. And guess what? It worked.
 
What I did:

• I listed everything I was grateful for, even if just for one minute a day. On days I felt like I had nothing, I reminded myself about food, water, oxygen, health, trees, books, TV shows, cars, phones, the sun, things we take for granted. I began to overflow with a sense of radical abundance.
   
• I visualized the details of my dream home, my dream bank account, the places I wanted to go, the relationships I wanted to have, and even the dream trajectory of my career. I visualized, more than anything else, getting a book deal with a major publishing company. I created a vision board to help make it all feel real, and to have something to turn to when my imagination was feeling weak.
   
• Whenever I noticed negative thoughts creeping in, I flipped them into a positive version of themselves. If I was thinking “I have so much student debt I’m never going to get out of it,” I would stop myself and say, “I am so grateful for the college education that I received, it was worth every penny and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” See? Positive thoughts.

What happened:

• Six months later, I took a leap of faith and decided to go to grad school for creative writing. A leap of faith is arguably a state achieved through positive thinking. At school, I met dozens of talented authors, each successful in his or her way. I learned from them. I kept thinking positively, even when things looked grim. Sometimes the only thing keeping me going was a feeling in my gut that negativity could ruin my life if I let it.
   
• One professor suggested I submit stories to fifty literary journals. He said the chances were that I’d get rejected from 49 and accepted to 1. He was right. My faith in positive thinking grew stronger when I saw how effective it was when paired with perseverance. Thinking positively encourages perseverance, and perseverance leads to success.
   
• With a story published in a literary magazine, I had a legitimized writing sample to present when I, by complete chance, met the head of a popular female-centric self-help website. She gave me the opportunity to publish articles on her website, and they ended up getting tens of thousands of likes and shares. The articles I wrote were about topics I loved, which of course means they were charged with positive energy.

• The mild success of these articles lead me to a reputable NYC literary agent. I cannot stress how often people told me “Nobody gets an agent anymore, only celebrities get agents, they’ll never notice you.” I chose to block out those voices and tell myself it was possible. Sometimes positive thinking is nothing more than telling yourself “Yes you can” until you believe it. I signed with this agent, and within days I was hired for my first writing job, then another and another.
   
• After a year of writing and daily positive thinking, my agent agreed it was time for me to write my own novel and try to sell it. As I wrote my novel, I revisited my vision board every day, focusing on the positive belief that a book deal was within my reach. Sure enough, the first publisher to read my book offered me a deal. A major New York Publishing House. I had achieved my longest life goal.

There are millions of aspiring writers, but only a tiny percent of them land book deals with respected publishers. The woman who relayed this story insists that she owes this opportunity to the power of positive thinking. She believes that the difference between her and the millions of aspiring writers is that she trained herself to think positively about her dream. 

It may sound cliche, but the actual truth of the matter is that thinking positively will lead you to taking positive actions, which will lead you to living the worthwhile life that’s right for you. Give it a shot, only good will come.