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» Five Ways to Stay Positive
in Negativity
It's easy to be positive in a positive environment.
It's when things are emotionally draining and negative that
you're challenged to behave differently. But you have the opportunity
to be the beacon of light for others around you. By your actions
and responses, you can demonstrate and teach others how to
behave in an appropriate, positive and professional manner.
Positive
energy catches on just as quickly as negative energy. Sometimes
people are simply stuck in a habit or pattern of
behaviour and are accustomed to acting a certain way. If
the environment is really caustic, then it's what people
are used to and may be all they know.
It takes some time and
effort as well as a commitment to do something differently
to create sustainable change. You
must be willing to identify and stop tolerating what's not
working, do the right thing even if it's initially unpopular
and then teach others to do the same.
Here are five ways you
can be a positive force in your workplace:
The First Step
Is Awareness
Recognize the negativity around you. Sometimes
you can even feel your energy being drained by the words
being spoken.
If it feels bad or uncomfortable, then it's negative. These
feelings are a form of intelligence similar to a tap on the
shoulder letting you know something is not right. If you
can identify what is happening, you can make good choices
about handling it.
It All Starts with You
In what ways are you contributing to
the negativity around you? Are you listening to gossip or
participating in conversations
where the only focus is to denigrate, diminish, or criticize?
Language matters. Everything you say has an impact, and when
you say something negative, not only does it dishonour the
person you're speaking about as well as the person you're
speaking with, it makes you feel bad even if you don't realize
it. Learn to respect people's humanity and their right to
be themselves. Complaining without end does not focus on
creating solutions; rather, its impact is only to perpetuate
and magnify the problem, wasting everyone's precious time
and energy.
Speak Up
Tell the other person how you feel by saying, "This
doesn't work for me." It's nonjudgmental, since you're
making it about you, not them. Also, people often don't realize
they are being negative. Point it out in a gentle, caring
way: "Do you realize you are complaining?" Just
bringing it to their attention can be enough to shift the
conversation. Over time, people will learn what they can
and cannot discuss with you, and it will stop being an issue.
If you say nothing, your silence conveys permission to continue.
Be
Constructive, Positive, Meaningful and Beneficial
What is
the point or purpose of what you're saying? Is it to hurt
or help? And at the end of the conversation, is there
an action step to take? Constructive conversations are empowering
and leave people a little better off from having participated
in them. Become the kind of person who takes your time and
words seriously.
Praise and Acknowledge
It's amazing what a few words of praise
and acknowledgement can do. You want to be the kind of person
people gravitate
to because they know they will be uplifted by you, not put
down or drained of life-sustaining energy. In short, you
want people to feel good after being in your presence.
No
matter what is going on around you, you control your inner
environment and how you choose to respond to external
events and situations. It's your responsibility to become
the kind of person you enjoy being and with whom others enjoy
being around.
It takes a true leader to walk a path different
from the crowd. So when others are negative, stretch your
boldness
muscles and be positive in spite of what others do or think.
It's the only way to create a ripple of change. And if each
of us does our part, then slowly but surely, we will make
a difference in our work environment and the larger community.
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