Some thoughts on positive thinking

Do you know any successful business people or sports people who gained their achievement through negative thinking? It has been said that successful entrepreneurs are optimists. There are those who dismiss positive thinking as psychobabble and say that thinking positively will not make a person become a millionaire. It is true that ‘actions speak louder than words’. Yes of course that is true, but let’s be honest our actions begin with our thoughts.

Psychologists say that we think 80,000 thoughts a day and that we repeat 80 percent of those thoughts the next day. If this is true then surely thinking positively must have some impact on our decisions and our actions and ultimately our success. One thing is sure negative thinking will not inspire us with the enthusiasm to become world beaters. And personally I also believe in the power of positive speaking. Words are powerful. Think about self fulfilling prophecy in the workplace. If we are able to change some of the negative language aimed at our company and our managers into positive language surely the result will be more positive actions – positive self fulfilling prophecy.

As a trainer I was taught many years ago by one of my mentors that when giving feedback to give only positive feedback, thus reinforcing the positive behaviour and to allow my delegates to identify their own shortcomings. I do believe that this is a good principle in the workplace. Whilst we do need to review both successes and failures perhaps if we can focus on what we do well and speak positively about situations we create a positive climate and energised employees.

David Schwarz in his bestselling book the Magic of Thinking Big says we should choose words that bright, cheerful and encouraging when speaking to people. This is often very different to what is heard in many workplaces. Yes I am a big believer in correcting bad behaviour and in managing performance and I also believe that these issues can be tackled using positive language and inspirational dialogue. Again I quote David Swartz:

"Speak only happiness
Speak only progress
Speak only prosperity”

This he says is important in getting people to believe in you and work with you. There is so much more could be said. If you have an opinion please let us know.

Syd
http://www.sydstrike.co.uk/