 |
The Gentle Rebel PodcastExploring the intersection of high sensitivity, creativity, and culture. Author: Andy Mort
The Gentle Rebel Podcast explores the intersection of high sensitivity, creativity, and the influence of culture within, between, and around us. Through a mix of conversational and monologue episodes, I invite you to question the assumptions, pressures, and expectations we have accepted, and to experiment with ways to redefine the possibilities for our individual and collective lives when we view high sensitivity as both a personal trait and a vital part of our collective survival (and potential). Language: en-us Genres: Arts, Education, Self-Improvement Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
There’s No One To Blame But You – The True Power of Positive Thinking
Friday, 8 May, 2026
Like other self-help gurus of the time, Norman Vincent Peal targeted the lonely travelling salesman. But his message was also marketed to corporate executives, who were promised that the true power of positive thinking lay in the great dividends it would yield if they could sell it to their workforce. This episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast builds on the first part of this mini-series, where we saw Peale’s roots in the New Thought movement of the 1800s. In this one, we examine how Peale encouraged a corporate embrace of positive thinking so that individuals would attribute all of their success and failure to the quality of their mindset and attitude. We look at the surprising role of Positive Thinking in the 2008 global financial crash. https://youtu.be/4U0Yk4Zryrw?si=JBLU4f-7VbPA6ZWU The Lonely Travelling Salesman and the Birth of a Corporate Tool In The Power of Positive Thinking, Peale recalls his encounters with travelling salesmen. They were on the road, feeling dejected, struggling to make sales, and lacking confidence. He prescribed visualisation, encouraging followers to “Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade.” Peale treats this lonely reality as an unchangeable and natural state of being. He doesn’t question the corporate culture that has made this a way of life for an increasing number of people. Instead, he offers a hand on the shoulder, with advice to ease the natural despair and unhappiness that accompany it. He quotes psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger, who said, “Attitudes are more important than facts.” He adds, “That is worth repeating until its truth grips you… You may permit a fact to overwhelm you mentally before you start to deal with it actually. On the other hand, a confident and optimistic thought pattern can modify or overcome the fact altogether.” In other words, it doesn’t matter what is true. What matters is what you want to be true. Believe wholeheartedly, and it will come to pass. This reminded me of a quote from Ivanka Trump’s self-help book, The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life, which is a descendant of Peale, with the family attending his church and being greatly influenced by his teaching. Ivanka wrote: “Perception is more important than reality. If someone perceives something to be true, it is more important than if it is in fact true. This doesn’t mean you should be duplicitous or deceitful, but don’t go out of your way to correct a false assumption if it plays to your advantage.” Motivational Downsizing and the Rise of Outplacement Firms Barbara Ehrenreich suggests, “In the hands of employers, positive thinking has been transformed into something its nineteenth-century proponents probably never imagined—not an exhortation to get up and get going but a means of social control in the workplace, a goad to perform at ever-higher levels.” The book also paved the way for “motivational downsizing”. Between 1981 and 2003, about 30 million full-time American workers lost their jobs due to corporate downsizings. Ehrenreich highlights how workplaces deliberately instil a positive outlook. Employers bring in motivational speakers and distribute free copies of self-help books. The 1998 mega–bestseller Who Moved My Cheese? was a big favourite for this, cleverly encouraging an uncomplaining response to layoffs. Shifting Responsibility Onto The Individual Companies were learning to shift responsibility from themselves to individuals. Outplacement firms were employed to groom laid-off workers, limit ill will, head off wrongful-termination suits, and protect against bad-mouthing by former employees. The owner of such a firm said, without irony, that “Losing a job is a step forward in your life.” This double-speak casts redundancy as a growth experience. A self-retreat. A deserved time out. Something for which you should be grateful. Ehrenreich recounts the story of an employee who was compelled to work with an outplacement firm after being laid off. He was advised not to discuss his job loss with anyone for a month. He later recalled, “It was good advice. I was so bitter, I would have said things that would have been bad for me.” This is a shrewd move that not only keeps potentially disgruntled employees quiet but also leads them to believe their greatest enemy is internal. In examples like this, the power of positive thinking really does pay dividends…for organisations. Did The Power of Positive Thinking Cause a Global Financial Crash? Ehrenreich writes that some of those who predicted the 2008 financial crash were warned to change their attitude or risk losing their job. Mike Gelband, who ran the real estate division of Lehman Brothers, expressed fears about what he believed to be a real estate bubble. He suggested to Lehman CEO Richard Fuld during his 2006 bonus review that they needed to rethink their business model. He was promptly fired. Two years later, Lehman went bankrupt. Lehman Brothers went against their own best interests to maintain this strange, superstitious belief in the magic of positive thinking. This mindset encourages us to see the messenger as the problem rather than as a gateway to knowledge and solutions. How Peale Cherry-Picked and Even Invented Bible Verses to Reinforce His Version of Reality Peale cites Job 3:25 from the Bible, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.” The story of Job is that he is a righteous man who loses his children, health, and wealth when God permits Satan to test his faithfulness. Peale takes liberties with his interpretation, writing, “If you fear something continuously, you tend to create conditions in your mind propitious to the development of that which you fear.” In other words, he blames Job’s attitude for the horrors inflicted on him by an external force (Satan). He then shares another Bible verse, “That which I have greatly believed has come upon me,” which may leave some people scratching their heads, because he has made it up. “It does not make that statement in so many words,” he continues. “And yet again and again and still again, the Bible tells us that if we have faith, ‘nothing is impossible’.” Peale paints fear as negative thinking and belief as positive thinking. So let’s run with this logic and apply it to Mike Gelband at Lehman Brothers. Gelband feared the housing bubble. According to Peale’s superstitious model, Gelband’s fear itself would have been the problem, not the risky loans, deregulation, or greed. That sounds extreme, doesn’t it? But it’s exactly what’s written in The Power of Positive Thinking. What Other Crises Are We Sleepwalking Into? This is a complete disregard for maturity, wisdom, and truth. When we view it this way, the power of positive thinking undermines our capacity to think clearly and critically when it matters most. It silences reason, logic, and insight. That IS powerful.
