Apparently, there are people who look at life as a half empty glass and those who see it as a half full glass. The first is the pessimist and the second is the optimist. Research has found that those who see the half full glass are happier, healthier and wealthier.
Which are you and your team, and what can you do about it?
The Pollyanna Effect
There was a children’s story many years ago about a little girl named Pollyanna and she remained excessively sweet-tempered and optimistic even in the face of adversity. She believed that good things are more likely to happen than bad things, even when it was very unlikely. And surprisingly, GOOD THINGS HAPPENED!
There is a lesson in that. If you come in to work in the morning and are expecting more of the same old, same old … that is probably what will happen. If you always see the negative in everything, you will get what you see. If, on the flip side, you look for the positive side of everything all day, you are going to have a much better time of it and enjoy your day.
It’s Your Choice
“A pessimist is one who makes DIFFICULTIES of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes OPPORTUNITIES of his difficulties.”
– Harry S. Truman
It’s a matter of choice … if you are expecting good things to happen you will tend to take the actions that will produce positive results. When you are expecting things to go wrong, you often fail to take steps that would have avoided or prevented the bad result!
Coaches of winning teams have this positive attitude: Even when they lose, the coach treats it as a learning experience that will enable them to win future games.
Get your whole staff thinking this way and it will put positivity and zing into the practice. Your favourite staff members are always the ones with the positive attitude that make everyone feel better. Encourage them all to learn how to do this and you will have amazing days at work.
Strategies for the half full cup
- Practice consciously looking at everything around you from a positive viewpoint. Leave notes in various places around you to remind yourself to do this. It can become one of your best habits!
- Watch out for staff and friends who are Debbie Downers (pessimists). Pessimism can be contagious, so avoid it where you can.
- Reframe the problems or difficulties so you see them from different angles, and this may present different opportunities or solutions. “What could be the ‘positive’ or ‘take away’ from this situation?”
- If you start feeling down, instead of succumbing to it, make yourself stand up and walk around and look for positive, good things until you are out of the funk.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Fill your glass with optimism and be happier, healthier and wealthier!
