Predictive Success Blog

Sometimes life gets complicated and can bring a person down, and some people are better at getting through the tough parts than others. What if there was a way to develop the skills needed to see the brighter side of everyday situations?

Having an open and positive attitude can change how you see and handle everything in your life, but it is not as simple as just smiling and thinking positively. Keeping a positive attitude is more than just appearing to have one, but something that exudes from you.

Having a negative attitude will only block you from bringing good things into your life. Being negative drives opportunity away, whereas a positive attitude works like a magnet drawing good things to you.

There are many health benefits when people have a positive disposition. One study found that some of the long-term effects of being positive are:

• that you live longer
• less likely to suffer from depression
• fight off common colds easier
• better stress management
• better overall state of health

If you want to improve your attitude and be more open to positive life experiences, take a look at the following list of ways to have a positive attitude at work and see how they can change your life.

Ten Tips For Being Positive At Work

1. Be kind to others.

Whenever you are kind to others, it brings them joy which in turn, makes you happy. According to a Psychology Today article, being kind and generous to others has a “boomerang effect” of happiness, benefitting both the giver and the receiver.

Being kind to others every day, will help spread that same feeling to others, brightening up more and more people wherever you go. In fact, a study conducted by The Journal of Happiness Studies found that when people are generous with others, it creates a feedback loop of generosity and happiness between participant and recipient, that often carries over again and again.

If you find that your work environment is a negative one, it can be a struggle to adjust everyone’s attitude to something brighter. Simply by being kind to your colleagues, can help shift people’s attitudes, making your work atmosphere more positive.

Being thankful and appreciative of the people and opportunities around you, can help elevate your attitude, while at the same time leaving a positive impact.

2. Choose to associate with positive thinkers.

People become a reflection of the individuals they choose to surround themselves with. This is why it is important to be selective with who you associate with.

If you are regularly around people who are negative and bring you down with them, it may be time to look elsewhere for friends. Instead of being around people who complain about all the bad things in their lives, choose people who have a positive outlook on life, work, family, and friends. Making this change may not be easy, but the outcome will allow you to grow and flourish into the positive person you want to be.

Being able to select who you work with may not be up to you, but you can choose how you react to their behaviour. If you find that your colleagues tend to be more negative, you can make the effort to try and change their attitudes, but sometimes it just does not work. Instead of getting involved with their situations, take breaks away from them, and focus on your job which may elevate you to a better place.

3. Improve the way you communicate.

You may not realize that the words you speak have a direct impact on others and on yourself. Being aware of the way you speak to others can change how people interact with you.

The words you use in everyday expression can alter the way you think as well. If you find that people respond to you negatively, consider the way you worded what you said to them. If people are rude and negative to you, your thoughts will be negative, but if you change how you speak to others, it will change how you think about yourself as well.

Thinking about the benefits and opportunities that work can provide to you and your life, such as vacations or the job you desire.  If you, instead think of the downsides of work, such as long hours or the complicated tasks to complete, it will change your perspective about your job.

Changing how you think about work and how you speak to others at your workplace can shift you into being a more positive person. This impact can change your whole outlook on life and work.

4. Shift your thoughts.

It can be difficult to fill your mind with positivity if you are constantly being bombarded with negativity. This can be especially challenging when there is a lot of unhappy people at your workplace.

On your commute to work or in your down time, try listening to uplifting podcasts, music, or audio books that can help fill your mind with new and inspiring thoughts. By exposing your mind to better experiences and thoughts, it will allow for a shift in your mentality, which will show in your behavior and work.

5. Take ownership of your mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone handles these situations the same way. Many people are fearful of taking responsibility for their mistakes, which only creates a state of turmoil in their minds.

If you are in the wrong in a situation at work, and do not take ownership of your actions, it leaves little space for thinking positive. By not admitting your mistakes, you refuse to learn from them and grow into a wiser person, and leave people with a feeling a mistrust and doubt in their minds when they think of you.

Consider how you respond when you make a blunder at work, and how you can improve going forward. As hard as it can be on your ego, speaking up when a mistake is made and taking responsibility for the consequences can prove to yourself and those around you that you have integrity, and can keep you in a positive mind state.

6. Practice deep breathing techniques.

One way that you can avoid having a knee-jerk reaction to a negative situation at work is to take a deep breath before you react. Our bodies are designed to handle various types of stress, and one of the best ways to quickly calm down is to take a few deep breaths.

Taking time to breath and meditate during tough situations can help improve your attitude and gives you the chance to choose how you will respond to them. The more than you do this, the easier the difficult moments will be.

7. Develop a daily routine.

Having a routine helps set you up for success in your day. If you know what you want out of your day and the steps you need to take to achieve those goals, attaining them seems within your reach.

Creating a routine for your personal life and your work life can help give you structure in your day. Some suggestions that you can incorporate into your daily routines are:

• Setting aside time to meditate
• Review and schedule your daily tasks
• Create a daily goal to accomplish

Maintaining a daily routine can help you keep track of what you need to do to get the most out of your day, while giving you a sense of pride and positivity.

8. Create goals for yourself.

Creating goals for different areas of your life can help you achieve more successes. Having short-term and long-term goals can motivate you to realize your goals, big and small.

If you are finding yourself negative at work, it may be time for you to create or adjust your professional goals. It is important to have something to focus your energy towards so that you have a reason to work hard every day.

Goals can challenge you develop new knowledge and skills, which can open up doors to new experiences and opportunities. If you have no goals, you will not have the same drive as those that do, which will likely make you feel more negative about work since others are achieving and you are not.

Having a positive attitude about the journey of your goal and not just the destination is important to your success. If you think that you the work you will have to do to achieve your goals is not worth it, or that you could never do that, then you will likely not cross the finish line, let alone, give your goal a chance.

9. Be open to new everything.

Being negative can limit how open you are to new people and experiences. If you act negatively about learning new ideas and knowledge, you will not grow or evolve into a better you, and you will likely reduce the chances of other opportunities coming your way.  

If you stay positive and let your curiosity explore new learning and understanding, more doors will open for you in life. Being present and willing will make assigning new tasks, processes, and opportunities easier for those around you, which will increase positive outcomes at work and in life.

10. You can create your own luck.

Many people feel like they get the worst in life, and yet they do nothing to change their circumstances that prevent them from attracting good things to them. Unfortunately, life can be unfair, so if you continually expect good things to come to you with no effort or because you think that life owes you something, you will be disappointed and miserable.

Maintaining a positive attitude is extremely difficult if you have a negative outlook on life. To get what you want out of life requires hard work, perseverance, patience, and willingness to accept and learn from a few failures along the way.

The most important thing to remember is that you are the only one in control of your own life. You decide how you react to situations and people, how much success you have, what you do with your time, and how positive a person you are, so why let life pass you by? Make the most of out work and life by choosing to be positive today.