Do you have a negative mindset? Are you affected by external circumstances? Do you let others control your attitude? These are all questions that I am sure we would answer them all with an emphatic NO!
As much as we all like to think we are positive all of the time, and we don’t let external circumstances or people control our attitudes, we have to be honest and admit that we all slip from time to time. As I write this article on 17 October 2020, we are in the middle of month 7 of a worldwide pandemic, and we are kidding ourselves if it has not affected us all in some way since the 23 March when we were forced into lockdown.
Maintaining a positive attitude at all times is quite exhausting and if we do slip – and we will – we need to make sure it’s not when we know we need to have a positive attitude – like in a one to one meeting, in your office with the rest of your team, hosting an event or on a group zoom call. Make sure any slips are in the privacy of your own home, and just make sure you and your partner/spouse don’t slip at the same time. Or if you have someone you can confide in, then let them know you are struggling and need help.
As the quote says, when we have a positive attitude, it does give us power over our circumstances. When we think positively, we act positively. When we act positively good vibes rub off on other people. We all need to be around positive people and other people need to be around us if we are always giving off positive vibes. We want people to feel better when we walk into a room not when we leave that room.
Even though we will all come across people who appear positive all the time, they are feeling as anxious as we are about the current situation we find ourselves in. Here is something for us all to think about. We can all sound confident and have anxiety. We can all look healthy, but feel like shit. We can look happy but feel miserable inside. We can be good looking and yet feel ugly. We need to learn to be kind because every person is fighting a battle we know nothing about. What I am saying is that we all need help and don’t be frightened to ask for it – it is a strength, not a weakness. What is important is that we surround ourselves with positive upbeat people as even when we are feeling lower that we do most of the time, being around the right people can raise our mood. I read a quote recently which said, “In 5 years time, we will be the same person we are today, apart from the people we associate with and the books we read”.
When we have a positive mindset, we spot opportunities – not always for ourselves, but also for others. Those opportunities are always there but if we don’t have a positive mindset, we will not spot them, and we need to be careful as a missed opportunity for us is an opportunity one of our competitors will pick up on.
Having an “Inner Circle” of people who think the same as you is a great idea and getting together with these people on a regular basis will help you all – “A rising tide raises all ships” – and as a team unit, you are so much more powerful than you are on your own.
If you would like me to be part of your Inner Circle or you would like to be part of mine, let’s talk.
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 18/10/2020