You've heard the question, "Is the glass half-full or half-empty?" Guess What? Technically the glass is always full. Maybe it is half full of water and half full of air or maybe it is full of air, juice, and ice. The point is that the glass is always full. The contents may be different, but it is always full. It's all in how you look at it. A positive makes a world of difference. I would like to share a few tips and tricks that have helped me maintain a high level of positivity in hopes that they will help you as well.
Positivity's Effects on Your Mental, Emotional, and Physical Health
Think of being positive as the ideal way of taking care of your brain. Positivity allows your body to function. Generating thoughts of joy, happiness, hopefulness, and optimism decrease cortisol levels and increase the production of serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a large role in stabilizing your mood. It is known to have many positive effects on your physical, emotional, and mental state including:
Reduce instances of depression and anxiety
Increase your ability to concentrate
Allow you to be calmer
Help to heal wounds quicker
Maintains bone health
Stress not only causes emotional issues such as depression and anxiety but can cause physical illness as well. For instance, stress can lead to:
Heart disease
Asthma
Obesity
Diabetes
Headaches
Weight gain
Colds
And so much more!
Positive thoughts help alleviate and decrease the instances of medical conditions brought on by stress.
Positivity Helps Your Brain Function at Peak Capacity
Positive thoughts support and aid in brain growth by generating new synapses primarily in your prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the only part of your brain that controls your emotions and behaviors. Not only does the prefrontal cortex regulate the signals that your neurons transmit to the brain and even other parts of your body, but it allows you to analyze and reflect upon your behaviors.
The Cognitive Triangle
The cognitive triangle says that your thoughts control your feelings, which in turn controls your behavior. For instance, if you have positive thoughts, then you will feel positive, and your behavior will be positive. The same is true if your thoughts are negative. Your feelings and behavior will be negative as well. Negative views about the world cause negative views about the future which causes negative views about oneself. Why not turn this into a positive: Positive views about the world lead to positive views about the future and therefore cause positive views about oneself. Positivity gives you the ability to focus on your business and personal goals that you want to pursue.
Everyone is Doing the Best They Can
I believe that no one person is good nor bad. Everyone is simply just doing the best they can at all times. The differing factor is that not everyone has the same environment or resources to grow and develop in the same way. For instance, let's say a financially struggling individual robs a convenience store for money to feed his family. The acting of robbing the store is generally not seen as acceptable behavior. However, the positive way of looking at the situation is that the individual was doing the best he or she could given his or her resources and environment. Positivity means striving to find the good or silver lining in every situation you are faced with.
Optimism is closely related to positivity. Optimists are said to:
Lead fulfilled lives
Spend less time alone
Have healthy relationships
Have healthy habits
Have stronger immune systems
According to Dr. Chopra, "The true definition of an optimist is someone that is very aware and mindful of all the setbacks and roadblocks and less-than-ideal things that happen in their life. The caveat is that they are just aware that those things are temporary, and they have the ability to overcome them". In other words, have faith in yourself that you are going to be okay no matter what life throws at you.
3-to-1 Positivity Concept
Renowned psychologist, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson developed the 3-to-1 ration concept for positivity. The idea is that for every negative thought you have, you come up with 3 positive thoughts. The first step in implementing this concept is being aware when you are having a negative thought. Let's use a simple example of how Dr. Fredrickson's concept works.
Negative thought: You dread having to go to work Monday morning.
Now, think of 3 positive thoughts that will offset this one negative thought.
Positive thought 1: You will see co-workers that you enjoy spending time with.
Positive thought 2: You are supporting your family financially.
Positive thought 3: You are an essential part of helping your team accomplish meaningful projects and tasks.
Your positives far outweigh your one negative thought and help to change your negative perspective to a positive one.
The Positivity Formula
I've developed a work-in-progress formula that has helped me and will hopefully help others achieve and maintain a positive mindset. This formula has 3 parts:
Positive Possibility — These are thoughts about positive things that could actually happen. The key is that each possibility must be rooted in reality. For instance, a positive possibility can't be to win the lottery if you do not even buy a ticket. Each possibility must be something that is achievable. If you do buy a ticket, then winning the lottery is most certainly a possibility.
Positive Personal Premise — This is the belief and confidence in yourself that you can achieve your goals and overcome your obstacles.
Positive Personal Perception of Others — This part is concerned with the ability to see the best in those around you. To identify and focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. The belief is that all people, including yourself, are always doing the best they can in any given situation.
Positive Priority Exercise
The sense of accomplishment helps to keep a positive perspective. Here's a neat little exercise that helps me increase my sense of accomplishment and therefore increase my positivity. Here's how it works:
First, come up with 3 priorities for the day. You can pick anything you want. It works best for me if I choose things that I normally would put off, such as organizing a closet versus a meeting which I know I will show up to anyway. Second, I go easy on myself. I do not force myself to spend hours a day on these 3 priorities; 5 or 10 minutes on each is fine.
The Ability to Weather the Storms
Life can be hard and will throw curve-balls in your direction from-time-to-time. It is important to understand that you have all of the tools you need to get through life's toughest situations. This doesn't mean that it will be easy and that you won't go through pain or a massive trauma, but you will survive. There's nothing you haven't gotten through in the past, why would now be any different?
Positivity can help you weather the worst of storms. I hope these positivity tips will help you weather the storms in both your business and your personal life!