Month: September 2024

“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.” Wade Boggs.

I saw a sign once that said “Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?” It wasn’t in a doctor’s surgery! How would you answer that question? How easy do you find it to maintain a positive attitude?

It can be challenging to stay positive if you have to operate in negative environments and interact with negative people. It’s easy to allow others to erode our positive feelings and intentions and burst our bubble!  Listening to people complain and gossip can have a detrimental impact on our mood. It also doesn’t help productivity, morale and service levels in businesses and teams. One bad apple has the capacity to send the rest of the apples in the barrel rotten!

It’s sad that some people keep expressing their unhappiness with situations. Like a scratched broken vinyl record, they play the same tune over and over. Whilst expending considerable amounts of energy they never once consider solutions and alternative approaches. Scenarios like the one I’ve just outlined can make you think you have walked onto the set of the film Groundhog Day (because you hear the same thing over and over again and witness the same results).

Watching news bulletins can be a similar negative experience. Talk of economic catastrophe, stories about war and conflict, famine, tales of unnecessary loss of life and opposition to political leaders can seriously undermine our positivity and feel-good feelings.

It’s easy to forget all that we have in life, the value of our family and friendships and how much beauty there is to be found in nature. We can also not fully appreciate the gift of life and how very fortunate we are to have a healthy body and mind.

We all have challenges to contend with from time to time. Life is full of ups and downs, hills and valleys. When we find ourselves at the top of hill, it’s important that we take the time to enjoy the view and be grateful. If and when we find ourselves in a valley, we can remind ourselves that this time will pass and change. We can also remember the marvellous experiences we have had in life and can enjoy again one day.

Life is precious and isn’t to be taken for granted. It’s to be lived one day at a time. It’s essential that we set an intention to enjoy life as none of us know how much time we have on planet earth. Therefore, it’s vital that we seek out positive people, experiences and environments to maintain our sanity. It’s an important element of self –care and helps us to develop and sustain good levels of health and well-being.

Here are a few ideas on steps you can take in order to maintain and increase your positivity levels: –

1. Defer worrying. You can put off worrying until you have a reason to worry. It’s easy to spend lots of time locked in your head imagining all sorts of scenarios that never actually happen. Research suggests that 70% of what we worry about never happens, 25% is trivia and 5% is out of our control.
2. Be self – disciplined. Set clear goals and take daily action and this will help you to raise your esteem and confidence levels. Positive daily actions and rituals mean that you make the best use of your time. Achieving your goals will help you to feel positive and good about life.
3. Appreciate all that you have in life. You can make it a daily habit to write down 3 things that you’re really grateful for. This helps you to focus your mind on what you have rather than what you lack. It will help you to develop an abundant rather than a scarcity mindset. Like attracts like and this simple act will attract even more things to be grateful for into your life.
4. Hang out with positive people. Be discerning about the company that you keep. Take care to avoid toxic people and situations. Associate with people that are good to be around, have belief in you and encourage you to develop. Socialise with people that aim high, think positively, genuinely care about you and make you laugh. Be that person for them too.
5. Remember to laugh. Nothing increases your mood and energy levels more than a good belly laugh. The news coverage can contain lots of negative and sad stories. Read something funny or look at a book of humorous cartoons. Regularly watch things that make you laugh. Take a break from news bulletins and newspapers from time to time.

This week, why not take a few moments out to reflect and consider what steps you can take to increase your positivity levels.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk

“Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.” Jessica Lange.

It’s important if we are to be the best that we can be personally and professionally that we learn to use our energy and mind in the most productive ways possible. One way we can do this is to develop our inner peace.

As I’ve got older, I’ve sought to be more accepting of people and situations. I’ve found that this has enabled me to feel calmer and as a result I’ve developed greater inner peace. It has also preserved precious energy for things that I can influence positively. Rather than expending lots of energy wishing things and people were different or trying to rewrite history, it’s important that we work with “what is.”

Acceptance is defined in the dictionary as “The action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered.” It is also defined as “The process or fact of being received as adequate, valid or suitable and agreement with or belief in an idea or explanation.”

In having greater acceptance in our life, we can start to focus our minds, time and energy on how we want things to be. With this clarity we will move things forward from where we are now. We can decide what we can do to build upon our current position and develop it into what we desire and aspire to.

There is a great quote by Socrates which we can use as a reminder of the power of acceptance and how it helps us deal effectively with change. He said “The secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old but building the new.”

How many times have you fallen into the trap, after something hasn’t gone as planned or as you envisaged, of replaying the situation in your mind and wishing it had a different outcome? This is easy to do but a pointless exercise because no matter how many times you replay it, what happened isn’t going to change. It is what it is.

Being more accepting of others allows us to be in a state of non- judgement and to have no malice towards them. As a result, we have greater tolerance of other people’s views and opinions. We accept people as they are rather than how we would like them to be. We start to look at their strengths and qualities rather than their flaws and weaknesses.

We can apply this principle to ourselves too and become more accepting of who we are. We can develop pride in our qualities, our accomplishments and achievements. We can expand our appreciation of the value we bring to the world and the contribution we make.

We can accept and use our natural gifts and talents rather than spend time and energy focusing on our weaknesses and what we lack. This also allows us to stop wasting time and energy comparing ourselves to others. Instead, we become more single minded and focused on our goals and desires. When we encounter difficulty or challenges, we can choose to accept what is, take the lesson from it and move on with greater wisdom. After all, tomorrow is another day.

We can learn much from Reinhold Niebuhr’s quotation “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Also, we can develop the habit of accepting gifts and compliments from others and be grateful for all that we have in life. In doing so, we can develop an attitude of gratitude which will lift our mood and happiness levels.

This week, why not pause for a few moments to reflect. Consider where you need to develop greater acceptance of situations and people personally and professionally.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk