What if you could spend one day, one week, or longer with no negative thoughts or actions? What impact would that have on your life?

Dr. Emmet Fox, Scottish born philosopher, scientist and spiritual teacher, developed a small pamphlet in 1938 entitled, The Seven-Day Mental Diet. This tiny gem challenges the reader to take a “mental diet” for one week, which means you cannot think any negative thoughts or say anything negative during that time. If you lapse from the diet, you must start at the beginning again, at Day One. In this diet, you cannot use negative language or think bad thoughts about yourself or someone else.

I tried the diet, thinking how hard can this be? I created guidelines for myself: Remain positive all the time. Let my anger or frustration simply melt away. This meant no road rage, no negative thoughts about other people or myself. It sounded so simple. My first attempt lasted just a few hours before negativity crept back into my psyche. As I struggled through the first day, I was shocked to discover that I was more negative than I had thought. It was an eye opening experience. I would highly recommend this exercise if you are interested in improving your positive outlook on life.

Keep forging ahead even if you struggle the first few days (or minutes!). Over time, this exercise will become easier and you will notice a difference. Soon your newfound positive attitude will become natural to you.