When you want more positivity at work: 7 reminders not to forget

We meet many people, make connections, gain acquaintances, and even build friendships with the people we work with. Through every relationship, I have learned at least one thing. I like to observe behavior and pick up on ways people manage situations, communicate, and handle their interactions.

I have had mentors throughout my career who have imparted great wisdom pearls. Most of the pearls have not been around how to do the work; they have been about working with leaders, juggling personalities, managing teams, building relationships, and developing mental toughness. 

This weekend, I learned of the passing of a great colleague at way too young of an age. He was the strongest, most positive person I could have met. He was always this way when we worked together for eight years, and he carried his strength into unchartered waters when diagnosed with leukemia. 

I always looked forward to our meetings. He was the person who could make me smile and forget about the minutiae or organizational politics I allowed myself to be consumed by. He had such a strong outlook on how to get things done and how to minimize those silly factors we sometimes let take over our thinking.

When we have a loss or change in our lives, we tend to step back and take stock. Sometimes, these happenings can push us in a different direction. Sometimes they can be a solid reminder to reset our attitude and give thanks for everything we have in our lives.

My colleague’s passing has prompted me to think about positivity and strength. He embodied these qualities in his personal life — always giving thanks to the fantastic nursing team and doctors who helped him and never complaining or bemoaning his diagnosis. 

How do we cultivate this strength in our daily lives? How do we achieve this in our work lives? The answers are simple but not always easy to implement. Please note: These points can be challenging to embrace and affect. If you find yourself in a situation or role you cannot adopt some of the below, it could be time for a break. And we all need breaks to relax, reflect, recharge, and reboot.

1. Don’t react.

My favorite and the hardest one for me personally is not to react. For those of us who are calm and rational most of the time, I envy you. For those who are expressive and, shall we say, passionate, this can be tough. When we see things so clearly, but the other person sees them differently, this can create conflict in a hurry. Take a break, take a breath, and don’t react. Take time to seek to understand through questions. Then, come to your conclusion.

2. Minimize the noise.

It is easy to let surrounding factors and personalities drag us down at times. Everyone I speak to has allowed the “noise” to get to them. When one person says they “hate” something, we can take this means everybody must hate it. We can get buried in comments or reviews by people since we are faced with them every day via many different channels. Try not to get overwhelmed with this but look for patterns and determine what actions you might need to take to make something better. 

3. Focus on outcomes.

One way to minimize noise, complaints, and distractions is to keenly focus on your role, project, or process outcomes. When you hear nothing but noise, go back to your purpose and objectives. This will help you block out the noise and focus on what you are trying to do, which should bring you joy. Whether this is fixing something, creating something, closing a deal, or helping a customer….this is why we do what we do. Focus on your objectives to bring about positive vibes.

4. Find your tribe.

We all need support and help to cultivate strength and positivity. Rarely can we have success all by ourselves. This can sometimes happen, but I challenge you to think of a situation where you achieved something with no influence or help from someone else. We need to surround ourselves with people who support what we are trying to achieve. We need people to help us cut through the noise and focus on what we need to do. While we won’t agree with everyone or be best friends with everyone at work, we need to feel like we belong and share the same values and mission.

5. Cut yourself some slack.

Another favorite I don’t always do myself is to give ourselves a break. How many of us are hard on ourselves? How many of us “woulda, coulda, shoulda” ourselves to the point of regret? We should not do this to ourselves. I am my own worst critic, but to be strong and embrace positivity, we must also learn to say: “Oh well”. We need to say we made a mistake, but we know what to do next time. We need to be okay with doing our best, even if our best is not perfect. (No such thing as perfect!)

6. Make a choice.

One of my mentors always told me that attitude is a choice. We can’t choose how someone treats us or how someone else reacts to what we did or said, but we can choose how we respond. We can let it roll off of our back. We can take it as feedback and decide to make a change. Or, we can choose to be angry, stressed, and yell at the wall. Positivity is a choice. Strength is a choice. I often see people make this choice, and I think they are more productive and have better success. This is not to say stressed-out people aren’t successful, but the positive people certainly enjoy the success more!

7. Be contagious.

They say misery loves company, and oh boy, does it ever. Laughter and positivity are also contagious. My colleague would always bring me up when I was down. Miserable people can influence us, but so can positive people. We never want to minimize bad or negative feelings if someone expresses them to us. We should listen and empathize, but we should also help others reduce the noise, focus on objectives and purpose, and have a positive outlook to affect others.

I have many mantras I use in my life. I can have a bad day when I forget them or don’t read or say them aloud. I strongly believe in one mantra: “We bring about what we think about.” If we are miserable and let the noise get to us, we will attract those people, actions, and events. If we have a helping attitude and a commitment to positivity, we will see positive events unfold.

Cultivating strength and positivity in our work lives can be challenging. Even those I know who exude sunshine have bad days occasionally. Today, my message is not to be perfectly positive but to remind ourselves of my seven positivity post-it notes above. We know them, but we forget them. My colleague’s passing has served as my reminder. I hope this post helps you all continue with positivity and strength.

This post is dedicated to David Keating. May you rest in peace my friend and inspire others to embrace life, strength, and positivity.