One of the founding principles in the self-improvement field since its huge growth in the early 20th century has been the doctrine that you must never have a negative thought. All negative thoughts need to be purged and replaced with only harmonious, positive, happy thoughts. So the experts say.

If anyone has seriously tried to do this, you'll notice a problem right away. It's damn hard to think positive all the time! This has caused individuals undue frustration. Many think that something is wrong with them and they're not good enough. So they give up trying to improve themselves.

This creates a cycle of doubt, fear and frustration. All caused by a self-improvement book that's supposed to be helping them! It's a rather strange dichotomy wouldn't you agree?

Well, I'm here to break this cycle once and for all. Yes you can have a negative thought and yes you can still achieve tremendous success even if you have negative thoughts. The key is to limit them. Stop the ones that you can stop and roll with the punches on the ones you can't.

As long as we are alive on this earth there is going to be times when things go wrong. Nobody and I do mean nobody is immune to problems. Some have the illusion that money solves all adversity. Sorry kiddies. It's not true.

Problems will come and they'll come in many forms: death in the family, relationships, business setbacks, health and of course the biggie for most people - lack of funds from time to time. Problems come and problems go. It's a natural cycle that never changes. Only through adversity do we have the chance to grow, learn and come out the better for it.

Trust me on this. No matter how bad it looks, if you persevere and hang on, you will come out better in the long run from the experience. Bad things do happen to good people and it's okay to be negative once in a while when you're going through those times. We're only human after all.

The key is to eliminate negative thoughts that just randomly pop into your head when things are going smoothly. Those you have to eliminate immediately. Replace them with a positive thought right away. Because if you don't it could develop into a lifetime pattern of negative thinking.

Focus on your goals. Keep your eye on the prizes that you've set for yourself. Do this during the good, normal and bad times that will come during a lifetime of living. And in the end, everything will be fine. The key is never giving up and staying focused on what you want to create in your life.

So when problems arise, it's not a crime to have negative thoughts. Just keep persisting. Learn what the adversity has to teach you and move on to better and greener pastures.