Always think positiveSpirituality

When entrusted with a difficult assignment or a tough deadline at the workplace, an optimist focuses his energies on identifying a solution and charting out a roadmap. He nurtures a mental attitude that admits positive thoughts, words and images, leading to success and happiness.

Our attitudes are shaped through constant conditioning as a result of interactions with family, friends and environment. They are so ingrained in us that it is an uphill task to alter them. Positive thinking is a hallmark of an optimist professional, who expects to see brightness and sunshine everywhere. The language of an optimist is 'I will', 'I can', 'It's possible'. A pessimist would lose precious time just thinking about the problem. An optimist focuses on the solution, the pessimist on the problem. An optimist would introspect and figure out the disconnect between performance and expectations and try and bridge the gap, never losing sight of the goals.

When caught in the quagmire of negativity, one's misperceptions overcome one's logical thinking. These irrational themes are manifested in many ways:

Filtering:

We magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter the positive ones. For instance, you have been promoted and you've got a good increment. However, the percentage of the increment is a notch below your expectation. You focus on the latter instead of celebrating the former.

Personalising:

You hold yourself responsible for anything that goes wrong. If the team overshoots the project deadline by a day, you take complete responsibility and curse yourself.

Catastrophising:

You live in the realm of Murphy's Law, expecting anything that could possibly go wrong, will go wrong! E.g. if you are organising a training programme, you will anticipate that the trainer will not turn up, the equipment will fail and the participants will either not show up.

Polarising:

You look at things in white or black. So the boss is either excellent or nasty, the colleagues are supportive or uncooperative, team members are performing well or not at all.

Making Positive Thinking a Habit:

Evaluate Your Thinking:

Watch your thinking during the course of the day. Check yourself the moment you find yourself edging towards negative thoughts. E.g. Instead of lamenting over lack of resources, think of creative solutions. Similarly, don't get overawed by tasks that seem too complicated. They'll seem less daunting if you break them up into smaller units and then address them. If you think that you do not have the expertise in a particular area, look around for experts who can help you. Try and induce more of self acceptance and less of self criticism. This will enable you to relook at 'problems' at the work place as 'learning opportunities' and handle stress in a realistic and constructive manner.

Exercise Positive Affirmations

Susan Jeffers, noted self help author, avers that positive affirmation is a proven tool for steering clear of negativity and fear. She explains, "Positive affirmation is a strong positive statement telling us that all is well. With constant repetition of this uplifting and soothing statement, the voice of doom and gloom is replaced with thoughts of peace, power and love." Pin up positive affirmations like "It is all happening perfectly" or "I am powerful and I can do it" at your office desk or in your car, and look at it on your way to work. It has been demonstrated that just repeating, writing or thinking positive statements lend us strength, whether or not we believe them. And if we say affirmations often enough, we ultimately start believing in them! Positive affirmations can certainly arm us with resilience for facing adversity.

Associate With Positive People

Both positive and negative thoughts are contagious. At the workplace one often encounters unhappy souls, who find something wrong with almost everything around them. They point fingers when things go wrong, they grumble, moan and find fault. It helps to steer clear of these people as they rub off their attitude and state of mind on us. When we meet people, we are affected by their aura and thoughts consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, it helps to be in the midst of people who are optimistic, upbeat and happy.
Positive thinking can empower us in a way that would boost our self esteem, expand our comfort zone and envelope us with well being and health, thus paving way for personal and professional growth. It has been aptly said that a positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible!

(The author is Senior Manager, Training, at an Investment Bank. The views expressed are personal)