August 9, 2025

Near Big Arm, Montana

You may have forgotten this, or you might be young enough that you never heard this, but historically speaking, a dark room was where professional photographers went to develop their pictures.

Although most people now take photos with their phones or with digital cameras, it wasn’t always that way.

Inside your camera was a roll of film that usually contained 24 shots. When you had taken 24 pictures, you ejected the roll of film, stashed it away, and put in a new one.

When you wanted to see the proofs of the photos you took, you handed them over to a developer. But if you were a professional photographer, you had your own dark room where you removed the film and inserted it into an acid-based water solution to develop your prints.

Although the lab room the photographer developed photos in was dark, a dim light hung above the area where the film was submerged.

After soaking the negatives in this water, the photographer was able to see a clear photo coming through, one which was then hung above his eyes to get a better look.

Think of it: The photographer operated in a dark room so that the “negatives” he was working with could be turned into “positive pictures.”

The darker the room, the easier it was to see the light in the photos.

If we recall this old way of developing photos and apply it to our lives, it can lead to tremendous optimism.

Anytime you feel frustrated, dismayed or upset, you can realize you are in this dark place to develop positive pictures that will help you move forward.

There is a way out of the darkness.

In the dark room of your mind, you never lose the capacity to look at your negatives and turn them into positives.

With this in mind, every time you feel a bit lost or confused, you can ask yourself, “Where are the negatives I want to develop? Where are the negatives that I can turn into positive pictures suitable for framing, suitable for publication, suitable for nothing more than a scrapbook, if I so choose?”

Once you have developed your so-called negatives into positive prints, you will feel absolutely awesome.

In fact, you will begin to feel awesome the moment you begin to look at the negatives that you want to turn into prints. You do not have to wait to see the negative turned into a photograph for you to notice a shift in your outlook.

Once you get your hands moving, once you are staring at something you want to develop, your feelings change.

You have clarity, you have a balanced and harmonious outlook. You are no longer stuck in a dark, gloomy place. You are growing and developing in the dark room of the mind.

Here endeth today’s lesson.

Matthew Furey

Be sure to get your hands on my new book, Psycho-Cybernetics 365, where each day I take a quote from Dr. Maxwell Maltz, then decode and elaborate upon it with insights, details and experiences that will help you get more living out of life. Reading this book is a perfect way to start your day, as well as a superb way to connect with others, including your parents, friends, co-workers and children. Click here to order.

It’s Labor Day here in the USA, so you may wonder why I’m sending this email instead of taking the day off.

The reason is because I just took two days off and don’t really need a third. I’m in the habit of consciously scheduling rest and relaxation, even if I think I don’t need it or “deserve” it.

Perhaps you’ve heard, in one form or another, that taking a day off is a bad idea. But what if it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself?

I realize there’s this idea, which some refer to as the “Protestant Work Ethic,” that you were put on this earth to work, work, work.

I used to subscribe to this idea. I worked seven days a week, as well as holidays, no matter what. I did this as an athlete and martial artist. I did this as a writer. I did this as a businessman.

Then one day I questioned the unquestionable: What would happen if I took a day off?

I decided to test this question to see what would happen.

The results were stunning.

I found myself “itching” to get back to the so-called grind. I also found that I improved in whatever I was “working” on because of the increased desire to get going again.

Hmmm.

How could this be?

Despite the prevailing notion that taking a day off would make me worse, I found it made me better.

So I decided to test further, taking more than one day off per week, usually Saturday and Sunday, but occasionally, during the regular work week as well.

Did doing so hurt me?

Not at all.

As the weeks flew by, I wasn’t getting “weaker” or less productive. Instead, I was getting more done in less time. The rest helped me focus and manage my time better.

Weekends are now spontaneous Goal Getting days for me. Yes, I still have a goal on the weekends, but it is more along the lines of doing whatever comes to mind in the moment.

Here’s the interesting thing: Monday through Friday, I am moving forward on various goals, then on the weekends, when it appears I am not moving forward on those goals, it turns out that I actually am.

Week after week, the results are astounding.

This is why I say it’s a good idea to question the story you’ve been told. It may not hold up to reality.

Matt Furey

Note: Not saying that I caused this to happen by taking the weekend off, but last Friday, Amazon was saying that delivery of my new book, Psycho-Cybernetics 365, would be between September 19-25. This morning all that changed. It will now be delivered between September 6-9. How about that? Click the link shown above and you may be holding a copy in your hands by this weekend.