Being in a state of ongoing crisis is mentally and physically exhausting. We’ve been awash with non-stop showers of negative news and gloomy forecasts of crisis-style proportions since the pandemic broke in early 2020.
Yet, as the age-old saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. To engage you must be engaging. To inspire you must be inspired. And that starts with a positive mindset, which involves being kinder to ourselves.
So, here are seven simple suggestions for staying positive in these times of elongated and escalating negativity.
1. As much as we try and fight it, eating, exercising, and sleeping well helps. And just as we can fill our bodies with fast-food or super-foods, we can also fill our minds with negative or positive information. So…
2. Be strategic about where you invest your time. Swap the six o’clock news with an inspirational podcast, TedTalk, book or blog. Spend as much time as you can with positive people. Positivity, just like negativity, is contagious.
3. Notice your inner voice. That little voice in our head is usually our fiercest critic. It has an uncanny ability to amplify the negative, squash the positive, and drag us down. So…
4. Challenge your inner voice. In the distant past it was a survival strategy keeping us safe. But it’s centuries old and its advice outdated. Today it often unhelpfully only serves to make us scared, subdued, and static.
5. Write down and evidence what your inner voice says. Seeing this will help you appreciate just how negative and nasty it can be. Restore balance by evaluating what it says. Where’s the evidence that it’s true? If there’s none, dismiss it and refocus your energy elsewhere.
6. Cut out negative language. The words we choose frame how we, and others, think and feel about what we say. Work to use language that promotes positivity, rather than recycle words that wear people down. Try swapping ‘no but’, with ‘yes and’… or ‘the trouble with that is’ with ‘what I like about that is’.
7. Notice the positives. Grab a blank notepad and pen and leave them by your bedside. Every night scribble down one positive thing that happened in your day. One thing, one page. No matter how big or small, work-life or home. What has delighted you today? It sounds twee, but just try it and see – it works, and you’ll sleep better!
A positive outlook enables you to achieve a greater sense of wellbeing and a more positive mindset. That then sets the environment for good ideas to thrive and better decision making.
Want more practical ways for you and your team to maintain a positive outlook? Then this half-day business communication skills workshop offers “world-changing” insights.
