(How To Stay Positive At Work And In Business)

By Jamieson Lee Hill, April 12th, 2023

Staying positive at work or in business can be challenging when dealing with the pressures of modern life. In this article we cover three practical and effective techniques to help you maintain a positive mindset.

1. HAL ELROD’S MIRACLE MORNING

Let’s first explore this classic routine which is very popular with entrepreneurs across the world. Hal Elrod’s method is a daily morning routine before you start work to get you in the optimum mindset. Depending on how long you have in the morning, you can either spend 20 minutes or as long as 90 minutes on the miracle morning. There are 6 core stages to Hal's method: 

A. Meditation

Find a place where you will not be disturbed and meditate for at least 5 minutes, 6 days a week. Breathe in through your nose on a count of 5 and out through your mouth on a count of 5. Still your busy mind. If you are not sure how to meditate, then check out this link ‘10 Minute Meditation for Beginners’. 

B. Affirmations

Repeating positive affirmations about what you want to achieve is a potent method for manifesting your intentions. There is now scientific evidence to suggest that affirmations can create new neural pathways in the brain,

“ According to research on the self-affirmation theory, there is MRI evidence that suggests that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks, such as repeating positive affirmations daily.”

Source: Positivepsychology.com, 2023

Affirmation Examples:

• I will develop my business knowledge by listening to an Audible book each day for 20 minutes.
• My business will be the market leader in my sector within 5 years.
• I will X5 my business revenue within 12 months.
• I will triple my salary within 12 months.
• I will be free of money worries by setting up a side business this year.
  
  

C. Visualisation

Visualisation is a popular method used by professional sports stars, business people and other professions. E.g. Some top footballers visualise themselves scoring goals, creating the perfect pass, stopping an attacker and so on. Rehearsing skills in their mind is an effective way to create a positive mindset. Likewise, some business people and entrepreneurs visualise themselves achieving their goals and dreams as a way of enhancing their mindset.

Practical Steps For Visualisation

Sit in a comfortable position in your chair and imagine achieving your goals and dreams. Be specific as you visualise the realisation of a dream or ambition or work goal. Ask yourself:

• Where are you?
• What have you achieved?
• How does it feel?
• What is no longer a problem in your life?

The power of visualisation grows over time as you practise it on a daily basis over months. Scientific research suggests that it helps you to create new neural pathways and  positive traits. Read more here about visualisation and links to neuroscience.

D. Exercise

A core part of the Miracle Morning is exerciseAim to do daily  ; you should do daily exercises within your physical capabilities. How much time you spend is down to you, but regular exercise is beneficial for your mind and body. Examples of exercise are walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, sit ups, push ups and so forth. You can organise your daily routine so that your exercises increase in difficulty each 2 weeks. Give yourself targets for improvement.

E. Reading

Reading stimulates your brain and gives you new ideas. Read a book everyday about business, self-development etc; anything which will help you grow as a person. Aim to read for at least 10 minutes each day.

Daily reading is the next part of the miracle morning. Select books which are inspirational, business related and/or about self-development. Set yourself a target of reading so many pages per day. Over time you will get into this habit and find it beneficial because reading inspiring books generates innovative ideas for your own life. 

F. Writing

Last but not least is writing. It is a good idea to keep a journal of your thoughts and reflections. You can write down any new ideas you discover each week. A journal is an effective way to have a frank conversation with yourself to explore what you want to achieve. Writing also helps to alleviate stress and anxiety; it can help you to be more objective, especially with difficult work situations. Also, write down anything which inspires you e.g. something someone said, a quotation, ideas in a blog or podcast etc.

2. POSITIVE SELF-TALK

Your biggest backer or supporter should be you. Suffering from low self-esteem or impostor syndrome are common issues in today’s fast and competitive world.

Low self-esteem and impostor syndrome

Low self-esteem and impostor syndrome are two very prevalent issues in today's world. The way we speak to ourselves in our internal dialogue is very important. If you are berating yourself and undermining your own abilities, it is time to stop and reverse this trend. Cultivate a positive inner dialogue with yourself, so that you become your own biggest backer and supporter. At the end of the day, if you do not believe in yourself, then who else will? 

Practising positive self-talk is a powerful tool to develop a more positive mindset. Try to frame your daily and weekly events in a more positive manner i.e. instead of looking back at your mistakes or problems as failures, see them as learning experiences. Also, avoid speaking to yourself internally in a negative manner that you would not use when conversing with a colleague. Encourage yourself and be compassionate with yourself when things go wrong. 

Objective Rationalising

When negative thoughts overload you, evaluate them objectively and rationally. Swop negative thoughts of failure and not being good enough with potent positive affirmations. 

Gratitude

Practise gratitude for the positive things you have in your life including your work, your family, your talents and achievements. Each day say out loud to yourself those things that you are grateful for in life. Daily repetition of showing gratitude can alter your neural pathways to a more positive way of thinking. 

3. FIVE PEOPLE

This tip comes from author of the book ‘Let It Go’ and Mind Coach David Rahman.  In a live online session, he explained that the 5 people that you have most contact with will have the greatest effect on your mindset. As an employee in the workplace you cannot necessarily choose who you interact with. However, if you are a business owner, you will have more control over this and you can choose not to work with very negative people. Outside of work we have more control over who we socialise with. 

Think about the 5 people you have most contact with outside of work and the effect they have on you. If some friends leave you feeling drained and negative, you should consider reducing the time you spend with them. At work, who do you see the most and who has the most negative effect on you? Can you reduce time spent with these people?

With family it is obviously more difficult as you may be expected to interact. Overall, become aware of the people who bring you down and those who lift you up. If you discover that some people regularly have a negative influence on you, then you need to reduce the amount of time you spend with them. Being around negative people a lot will affect your mindset in a detrimental way. 

So there we have it, three potent tips to help you develop a positive mindset in work and also in your personal life. Start tomorrow with the Miracle Morning and also begin to practise positive self-talk. Also, workout who in your life is having the most negative impact on your mindset and reduce the time you spend with them and if necessary stop socialising with them. 

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Sources:

1. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6912-develop-positive-mindset.
2. htmlhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2022/01/12/how-entrepreneurs-can-leverage-visualization-a-neuroscientist-explains/
3. https://www.healthline.com/health/positive-self-talk

https://positivepsychology.com/daily-affirmations