Positivity is a Game Changer

Early in my corporate career, I thought my greatest strength was my ability to hone in on problems, issues, and “what’s wrong?” when a new idea or project was presented. While this seemed to serve me well – it helped to see the potential pitfalls where others didn’t – I now know it also limited my view of all the positive opportunities and possibilities. As I progressed into roles with greater responsibility, teamwork and influence, this approach was no longer serving me.

I realized that it is far more powerful and effective to start from a place of: What’s right? How can we move things forward? What are the possibilities? What’s the positive? What’s the solution? I found that emphasizing the positive helped me build stronger relationships, be more engaged and productive, and see many more opportunities. I became fascinated by the people side of things and the correlation between positivity, relationships and business results. While I couldn’t ignore what’s wrong, putting the emphasis on what’s right paid dividends.

About a year ago, after I left my corporate career, I spent time researching different perspectives on what makes people successful. This led me to Positive Psychology, which presents decades of research and science to explain my experiences. I became an instant believer in Positive Psychology and sought out ways to incorporate it into my coaching practice and everyday life.

So what is Positive Psychology?

We all have unique needs, values and strengths, and we can positively leverage these aspects to find more happiness and well-being. Positive Psychology is the science and research behind:

• what causes happiness and well-being, and enables people to flourish

• emphasizing  what’s right with people rather than what’s wrong with people

• building resilience and resourcefulness in people

And here’s the awesome part: studies show that we all have the capacity to change and shift our brain to be more positive.

Here are some key principles:

Positivity expands our possibilities and transforms us for the better (but it doesn’t mean we need to be 100% positive).

A common misconception with Positive Psychology is that you always have to be thinking positively or showing positive emotions. That’s not realistic, as we all have negative thoughts and negative things happen. Instead, it’s about how we view and respond to those events that brings the power. When we come from a more positive outlook, we will have more options available to us, and we will see more possibilities for a path forward. It’s about thinking of how you can approach a situation in a more positive, forward-moving way. Positivity can help you and those around you feel good, engaged and motivated, and science proves it leads to better results, whether you’re in the boardroom or dealing with an unruly six year-old.

“Positive people are able to maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture which helps them identify solutions whereas negative people maintain a narrower perspective and tend to focus on problems” – Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity

Focusing on strengths leads to our best performance (but this doesn’t mean completely ignoring our weaknesses).

Focusing mostly on “what’s wrong?” is often the default approach taken when dealing with people, performance, or even how we see ourselves. Strengths, however, are where our greatest successes come from, where we truly are at our best, and where we can experience the most growth. When we are using our strengths, situations become easier and we create flow. It’s about focusing on what comes naturally to us, rather than focusing on what we wish we were good at doing. Robert Biswas-Diener, author of Positive Psychology Coaching, uses a sailboat metaphor to describe how one can view strengths and weaknesses. “You need to take care of a leak to prevent yourself from sinking, but you need to hoist your sails to catch a favorable wind and move forward”. There is ample science and research indicating that focusing on strengths leads to best performance for us and others around us.

“We have discovered that people have several times more potential for growth, when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.” – Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0

Happiness is a choice and something you create inside you (not something you strive for or attain).

Happiness is not something you attain when you get a job promotion or a new house. It’s your attitude and feeling in any given moment. There are both positive and negative things that happen to you, and it’s your ability to find gratitude and positivity – even the smallest thing – in those moments that can bring you more happiness. When you do that, your brain becomes more engaged, and happiness fuels your performance and success.

“What we’re finding is it’s not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.” – Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage

What can you do to be more effective using the concepts of Positive Psychology?

Much of our effectiveness come from inside and what we choose to focus on in any given moment. How can you be a stronger leader when you come from a place of what’s right about people rather than what’s wrong?  How can you be a better parent when you consider how positive emotions lead to better behavior? In really any aspect of your life, the principles of positive psychology apply. So, how can you approach a situation or person differently using these ideas?

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

What Next?

You can sign up for Stacey's masterclass, The Confident "No" here.

Stacey L. Olson is a Leadership and Certified Positive Psychology Coach, has 15 years of corporate experience and has gone through her own transformational change from burning out to balanced in life while performing at a high level (both in her corporate career and own business). She works with professionals who want to work less, live more and be their best even with all the demands, high expectations and messiness of everyday life. Stacey is the founder of The Balanced Leader™ program and offers executive and leadership coaching, workshops, and speaking.