More Positive Talk Or Less Negative Talk: Achieving a Goal

Positive Thinking vs. Less Negative Thinking: What Helped Me Crush My Training Ride?

There’s a lot of talk out there about “thinking positive” to achieve your goals. But lately, as I’ve been training for my upcoming Half-Ironman, I’ve been asking myself a different question:

Is it more powerful to think more positively… or just think less negatively?

That question hit home for me during one of my recent training sessions—an intense, hour-and-a-half ride on the stationary bike. I had a goal: maintain a minimum of 18 mph for the full session.

The Ride That Taught Me a Lesson About Mindset

The first 30 minutes? Smooth sailing. My legs felt great, the pace was right, and mentally, I was dialed in. I thought, “This won’t be so bad.”

Then the second half-hour started. My body was still strong, but my mind started to unravel.

It wasn’t my legs that were the problem, it was the voice in my head saying things like:

“You’ve already proven you could do this. Why keep going?”

“You’ve earned the right to stop. No shame in quitting early.”

The final 30 minutes became a mental war zone. Physically, I could push the pedals, but mentally, I was dodging landmines of doubt, rationalization, and comfort.

At that moment, a cognitive shift needed to happen to finish the workout.  My goal is to complete a Half-Ironman.  The current plan required that a 2-hour bike ride needed to be completed.  The parameters of the plan was that I needed to stay at/above 18 mph.  So, the resistance or cadence was the only change that was allowed to be changed.

Increasing/Decreasing the resistance and cadence was all that was allowed.  This concept re-focused me on the goal to complete the assigned workout.

And that’s when it hit me:

Goals aren’t achieved by what we could do, they’re achieved by what we do.

The Science Behind the Struggle

That internal battle wasn’t just about endurance. It was a textbook example of how mindset shapes performance, and not always in the way you’d expect.

We’ve been taught to chase positivity. And for good reason: Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory (2001) shows that positive emotions help us explore, learn, and build resilience. Optimism can widen our perspective and increase motivation.

But what if “thinking positive” doesn’t come easy in the moment? What if you're in mile 40 of your ride or deep into a business grind, and your brain is not throwing out inspiring affirmations?

That’s where a different approach helped me: not thinking more positively but thinking less negatively.

Why Less Negative Might Be More Effective

Research shows that trying to force positive thoughts can backfire, especially when you don’t believe them. In a 2009 study in Psychological Science, people with low self-esteem who repeated positive affirmations actually felt worse not better (Wood et al.).

Instead, reducing negative self-talk and reframing unhelpful thoughts has been shown to be more effective. This is the core of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) a proven approach that helps people challenge distorted thoughts, calm their inner critic, and create more realistic, helpful self-talk.

During that ride, I didn’t tell myself, “You’re amazing! You’ve got this!”
Instead, I told myself, “This suck!  You keep moving. Keep going. One more minute.”
That small shift made a massive difference.

Enter: Mental Contrasting

Another tool I unknowingly tapped into is something called mental contrasting—a strategy developed by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen.

Instead of just visualizing success, mental contrasting encourages you to:

• Visualize your goal

• Change the cognitive channel

• Plan for how to deal with them.

This strategy has been proven to increase follow-through and motivation. It bridges the gap between hopeful and realistic and the exact space where true growth happens.

Final Thoughts: Get Real, Get Results

My ride reminded me of something I want to pass along:

You don’t have to be relentlessly positive to achieve your goals. You just have to stay committed in the face of the mind games.

Sometimes, the work isn’t physical. It’s internal. It’s shutting down the voice that says, “You could quit now” and choosing to keep going.

Because at the end of the day:

Goals are not achieved by what could be done, but by what is done.

Quick Tools to Try on Your Next Challenge

• Catch the critic: Notice when negative self-talk creeps in.

• Neutralize the Noise:  Shift from “This is too hard” to “This is hard, and I’m still doing it.”

• Use mental contrasting – Visualize success + plan for the mental resistance.

• Don’t fake hype – Be real. Be gritty. That’s stronger than blind positivity.

Sources:

• Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist.

• Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements: Power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science.

• Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders.

• Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2011). Strategies of setting and implementing goals: Mental contrasting and implementation intentions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

P.S. If you're training for something big—whether it's a race, a business, or a lifestyle change—I'd love to hear about it. Let’s share tools, stories, and wins together.