This week I had a phone call from a friend who has just had a run in with the authorities, which has continued over 10 years, and which included a short stay at "holiday farm" just east of Perth and it helped crystallised many of my thoughts over the last few months. My friend's "wrong doings" have been quashed on appeal but the damage has been done to his own health, that of his immediate family and I am sure, of his close friends.

The senselessness of the saga is mind numbing, the costs astronomical, and bloody mindedness of the government servants who have continued their assault on him beggar belief.

As I expressed my sympathy for his plight he said "Wayne, it was nothing compared to the battles you have waged over the last few years."

I was nonplussed by the comment but on reflection it made me realise that not many people who could continue the battle as I and my family and close friends have against the authorities senseless campaign in regard to modern marketing and the application of a retrospective law against a small family business conduction business education.

But I wonder if I am this very positive person that most people see. And as if by divine will, I came across a great note from Martin Avis, who writes great material on Internet marketing and life. Martin addresses the situation of people who apparently can burst through walls regardless of the circumstances.

Martin poses this question: Is the most positive person in the world really a closet pessimist.

Is that a contradiction in terms?

Not really. It is just an acceptance of the fact that we are very complex beings and that there are an awful lot of facets to our personalities.

A person who is 100% optimistic about every little thing in life probably wouldn't survive. A little negativity is what keeps us safe. I can admit to days when it seems all too much but I have trained myself to "worry for a few minutes" and then move on.

For example, when you are driving, you'd be nuts to assume that every other driver on the road is going to behave perfectly. You hold back a little bit of pessimism to keep you focused on potential problems.

Business is like that too. If you see every situation with rose-colored glasses, all that will happen is that your world will be pink.

We all need a little reality to keep our optimism and positivity burning brightly. Without contrast there is only grey (or pink!)

My advice is not to beat yourself up if you occasionally find yourself having negative thoughts, they are quite healthy. May I suggest that every now and again you consider what it would be like if the worst thing that is possible happened to you.

Amazingly there are people who have experienced ill health yet found things to be thankful for [if you get a chance watch the Michael J Fox interview on Foxtel's Bio for inspiration], people who have been bankrupted yet have dusted themselves off and started again, and finally as with my friend who I mentioned earlier, have had their liberty taken away for a while yet have re-emerged stronger and more focused.

Martin Avis says that the time to worry is if you only occasionally have positive ones! Then you have to take steps to find out why you are so down on yourself and the world, and work out a strategy for redressing your own personal balance.

There are good solid reasons why you should aim for a positive balance.

Studies show that optimists tend to achieve more, stay healthier longer and suffer far less depression. Good reasons to see the bright side, I'd say!

Martin mentions three simple tricks that can soon get your mind into the habit of seeing positive rather than negative:

1. Wear an elastic band on your wrist. Whenever you catch yourself thinking 'I can't', ping it. It will hurt, but you will soon break the 'I can't' habit. [This technique is mentioned in Mark Victor Hansen's The One Minute Millionaire and I wore a elastic band for a few months but it REALLY HURT!!]

2. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, and much negativity comes from that 'can't cope' feeling, take five and write down all the pros and cons of the situation. Then take all the cons and think what is the worst that could happen. When you've done that, do the same with the pros - think of the best that can come from each of them. Now focus on achieving those 'bests'.

My own suggestion here is to write your positive and negative thoughts in a journal that you carry with you often. Your own thoughts are the most positive influence you can possibly have.

3. Find the most optimistic and positive person you know and invite them out for a drink occasionally. There is nothing like absorbing positivity from others to give your own flagging
spirits a boost.

Often people seek me out and start by asking how I am but will often fill me in on the woes of their current situation. I give then a swift kick up the proverbial, and they go off happier. All I need is someone to come and give me a charge of energy... no, not really. Just a great book is all I need to top up the positivity tank.