I’ve found myself in an environment of late where I am surrounded by people that I can believe in. Naturally positive people. It’s a really good place to be for someone like me and I thought I’d share a few specific observations:
1) Positive people don’t only make negativity uncomfortably out of place, they have a tendency to simply banish it from the room before it even enters. They create a natural sense of perspective. They feed off each other and feed into each other in what is closely akin to a form of mass hypnosis, but because they’re generally positive, there is no faking it. Happy people are happy, precisely because they’re happy and neither poverty nor hardship takes their happiness away from them. The same goes for positive people.
2) They live by example and expect you to do the same. How do you win over a group of positive, productive people? You tap into your own good spirits and you make sure you’re a contributor to the group’s success. If you hold yourself to a high standard among people like that, they will help you make that standard a reality. If you don’t, they don’t really know what to do with you, and you lose the benefit. Being surrounded by positive, productive people isn’t a challenge; it’s an opportunity to be lifted.
3) They tell the truth. It doesn’t matter that the truth is that you just screwed up; they tell it anyway, without fear. In a group of positive people, criticism can happen because it is seen not as nitpicking but as a potentially valuable lesson, and they feel the same about receiving it as they do about giving it. It’s a sign of respect that they can speak so openly to one another.
4) They only take serious stuff seriously. And they know how to tell the difference without ever having to think about it. They live the mantra that it is important to take the work seriously without taking yourself too seriously. They separate well and strike a balance they’re comfortable with without feeling pressured to be pretend they’re busier, harder working or more stressed and under-the-gun than they are. To them, busyness is about reality. They don’t mind sitting back for a chat and a joke or to run out and get McFlurry’s for the whole office when they have a gap because they’re not worried about being accused of slacking.
This list could go on. These things have almost been as much fun to write about as they are to witness every day. Maybe I’ll do a Part II later this week …
Hey there. I found your site through google. I’m just wondering why you think it might be that people (in general) don’t have interest in doing anything positive, nor contributing to it, but toss out something negative and everyone swarms. I normally get decent hits to my blog and decent comments too….however I’m trying to start this positive movement and I get crickets! Maybe it just doesn’t match up with my niche? but I really want it to be a part of my blog because my blog is about me and I’m positive
nice post!
Hey Ali,
What’s your positive movement?
Thanks for visiting and for commenting!