If you fail to deal with this, the toxins will continue to fill your life, choking out your potential. But if you succeed, you will create the capacity for good things and step into your destiny.

This guide takes breaks down Empty Out the Negative (4.8/5 stars, 5k+ reviews) by Joel Osteen so you can immediately apply it to your life.

The 3 Reasons You Can't Empty Out the Negative

The Contaminated Container (Emotional Baggage)

Your heart has a limited capacity. When it is full of toxins like guilt, worry, and bitterness, there is no physical room for good things like joy and peace to enter.

The Wrong Recording (Internal Mindset)

A negative recording constantly plays in your mind, telling you that you are unqualified or ordinary. Osteen calls this a "grasshopper mentality," and it makes external success impossible because your life follows your thoughts.

The Bad Soil (Toxic Environment)

Your potential is a seed, and even the best seed cannot grow in bad soil. A toxic environment filled with negative and critical people will choke out your destiny, regardless of your talent.

A 5-Step Roadmap to Empty Out the Negative

This roadmap is a sequential process for cleaning out your inner world so you can flourish. It starts with your internal container, moves to your internal mindset, and finishes with your external environment. Each step builds on the last.

Step 1: The Morning Emptying

What This Is

This is a daily practice to create space in your emotional "container." Every morning, you consciously identify and release the toxic thoughts and feelings from the day before.

Why It Matters

This directly solves the problem of The Contaminated Container. Since you cannot exceed one hundred percent capacity, you must empty the guilt and worry to make room for peace and joy.

How You Can Use It

Use The Morning Release Checklist. This is a simple, three-step mental checklist to audit, visualize, and verbally release the previous day's negativity before it poisons the new day.

Examples (Toggle for more)

Less Productive: David wakes up angry, replaying a rude comment a coworker made yesterday. He carries that bitterness with him, and it sours his entire morning.

More Productive: David uses The Morning Release Checklist to empty out the negative.

Audit: He wakes up and immediately identifies the feeling of offense from his coworker's comment as the primary toxin from yesterday.
Visualize: He performs the "Catheter" Visualization taught by Osteen, picturing the bitterness as a poison being flushed from his system so it cannot infect his day.
Decision & Output: He uses the Release Script, saying aloud, "I am not giving this offense any room. I am emptying out the worry." He makes the strategic choice to release it, creating a clean slate for the day.

Step 2: The "Drop It" Defense

What This Is

This is a real-time tactic to handle new offenses or setbacks the moment they happen. It stops you from picking up new emotional baggage during the day.

Why It Matters

This prevents the re-contamination of your container. As Osteen warns, you will be tempted to pick an offense back up. This defense stops the cycle of accumulation.

How You Can Use It

Use The Real-Time Offense Shield. This is a three-part mental command you issue to yourself immediately after a negative event to drop it, file it away, and refuse to engage with it.

Examples (Toggle for more)

Less Productive: After getting cut off in traffic, David stews in anger. He replays the event in his mind and complains about it to a colleague at lunch.

More Productive: When someone cuts him off in traffic, David uses The Real-Time Offense Shield.

Drop It: He feels the flash of anger and immediately uses the 3-Command Tactic, saying to himself, "Drop it, leave it, let it go."
File It: He makes the conscious decision not to analyze why the driver was so rude. He puts the event in his mental "I Don't Understand It" File and moves on.
Decision & Output: When the memory of the event pops up an hour later, he uses the "No Thanks" script: "No thanks, I left that where I dropped it." He refuses to let the event re-infect his container.

Step 3: The "Delete Button" Protocol

What This Is

This is an active process for changing the negative internal recording that plays in your mind. It involves catching a negative thought, deleting it, and replacing it with a positive one.

Why It Matters

This directly addresses The Wrong Recording. Osteen teaches that victory starts in the mind. You cannot live a positive life if a negative, "grasshopper mentality" is playing on a loop.

How You Can Use It

Use the Power Thought Replacement Card. This is a simple mental script that helps you hit delete on a negative thought and immediately replace it with a powerful "I AM" statement.

Examples (Toggle for more)

Less Productive: While preparing for a presentation, David thinks, "I am not good at this." He lets that thought loop, which drains his confidence and hurts his performance.

More Productive: David feels the same negative thought and uses the Power Thought Replacement Card.

Delete: The moment he hears "I am not good at this," he visualizes a delete button and mentally presses it, interrupting the negative loop.
Replace: He immediately fills the new space with an "I AM" Replacement from Osteen's teachings: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am a masterpiece."
Decision & Output: This is not just positive thinking; it is a strategic decision to change the channel in his mind. By replacing the lie, he changes his self-image from a "grasshopper" to a "masterpiece," which builds the confidence he needs.

Step 4: The "Nose Up" Attitude

What This Is

This is a conscious adjustment of your daily outlook. It means shifting from a "Nose Down" attitude of complaint to a "Nose Up" attitude of gratitude and positive expectancy.

Why It Matters

This also helps overwrite The Wrong Recording. According to Osteen, your attitude is like a plane's altitude indicator. A "Nose Up" attitude allows you to rise, while a "Nose Down" attitude leads to a crash.

How You Can Use It

Use The Attitude Indicator Check. This is a two-part diagnostic tool to check if your perspective is "Nose Up" or "Nose Down," and then use a simple script to reset it.

Examples (Toggle for more)

Less Productive: On Monday morning, David thinks, "I have to go to work. I have to sit through that boring meeting. The traffic is going to be awful."

More Productive: David uses The Attitude Indicator Check to set his direction for the day.

Check: He catches himself using "have to" language, which he identifies as a "Nose Down" indicator. He realizes his perspective (his "window") is dirty.
Reset: He makes the strategic choice to clean the window by swapping "have to" with "get to."
Decision & Output: He uses the "Fresh New Attitude" Script: "I get to go to work. I am grateful for this job. I get to be in that meeting." This simple shift from burden to privilege sets his attitude to "Nose Up," expecting favor.

Step 5: The "Good Soil" Transplant

What This Is

This final step is about curating your environment. It involves identifying and distancing yourself from negative people so your potential is not choked out by bad soil.

Why It Matters

This is the solution for The Bad Soil. Osteen is clear that no matter how good your seed of potential is, it cannot flourish if it is planted among "weeds" (negative influences) and "rocks" (critics).

How You Can Use It

Use the Relationship Soil Test. This is a simple diagnostic to identify which people in your life are "weeds" or "thorns," and then a strategy for creating distance without confrontation.

Examples (Toggle for more)

Less Productive: David has lunch every day with coworkers who gossip and complain. He leaves feeling drained and negative, but he keeps going because he feels obligated.

More Productive: David uses the Relationship Soil Test to protect his growth.

Identify: He identifies his lunch group as "weeds." He recognizes that their negativity is bad soil that chokes his own positive attitude.
Decide: He makes the strategic decision that his destiny is more important than this social routine. He doesn't make a dramatic announcement.
Decision & Output: He uses the "Slow Fade" method. He politely declines lunch invitations twice a week to eat with a mentor or listen to an inspiring podcast instead. He is actively transplanting himself into good soil.

Actionable Tools to Empty Out the Negative

Checklist (Toggle for more)

The Morning Emptying

[ ] When you wake up, identify any worry or offense from yesterday.
[ ] Visualize the negativity being flushed from your system.
[ ] Script: "I am emptying this out. I am not giving this room in my life today."

The "Drop It" Defense

[ ] When an offense happens, immediately think: "Drop it, leave it, let it go."
[ ] Refuse to replay or analyze the event.
[ ] Script: If the thought returns, say: "No thanks. I already dropped that."

The "Delete Button" Protocol

[ ] When you hear a negative thought, visualize hitting a delete button.
[ ] Immediately replace it with a positive truth about yourself.
[ ] Script: "Delete! I am a masterpiece. I am equipped for this."

The "Nose Up" Attitude

[ ] Notice when you are complaining or using "have to" language.
[ ] Reframe your thoughts around gratitude and what you "get to" do.
[ ] Script: "I am grateful for this day. I am going to find the good."

The "Good Soil" Transplant

[ ] Identify the people who consistently drain or discourage you.
[ ] Politely and gradually spend less time with them.
[ ] Intentionally spend more time with people who lift you higher.

The 'Empty Out the Negative' Action Plan

The Morning Release Checklist: A 3-step mental routine to start each day with a clean emotional slate.

The Real-Time Offense Shield: An immediate mental command to prevent new negative events from taking root.

Power Thought Replacement Card: A simple delete-and-replace script to combat negative self-talk.

The Attitude Indicator Check: A quick diagnostic to shift your perspective from burden to gratitude.

The Relationship Soil Test: A framework for identifying and distancing yourself from negative influences.

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How to Empty Out the Negative: FAQ

Why is it so important to empty out the negative every morning?

According to Joel Osteen's teaching, your emotional capacity is limited. If you wake up and are already full of yesterday's frustrations, there is no room for the joy and opportunities of the new day.

What is a "grasshopper mentality"?

This is a term Osteen uses to describe a negative self-image where you see yourself as small, weak, or unqualified. It comes from an old story where spies saw themselves as grasshoppers and were defeated by their own mindset.

What is the difference between "weeds" and "thorns" in my environment?

Osteen describes "weeds" as people who are generally negative, gossips, and complainers who drain your energy. "Thorny friends" are compromisers who may be fun but slowly pull you away from your core values and goals.

When should I NOT use this framework?

This framework is for managing your internal state of mind and emotions. It is not a substitute for seeking professional help for clinical depression, anxiety, or trauma, nor is it a strategy for solving complex external business or logistical problems.

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