By negative thinking, we mean to live our lives thinking about minimising the negatives rather than maximising the positives. This makes a lot of sense because we can't really agree on the positive things we should do to achieve optimal success and happiness. Does taking multi-vitamins work? How much sex is ideal ? Should I diet or exercise to lose weight ? But we do know what's objectively bad for us - drugs, alcohol and char kway teow. So instead of doing the right things, some people can do very well simply by avoiding the doing of bad things. Once I read about the "useless caste" in The Economist, I stopped playing computer games entirely because I became convinced that computer games has the power to replace a happy family and a career. This philosophy is encapsulated in my current margin portfolio that makes an attempt to minimise the semi-variance rather than ......