“Positivity” is a term I first met when in college.
At the time it seemed to sum up some of the more iritating people on campus.
Their constant smiles and cheery nature grated. We were students and as such had a right, nay a duty, to be sceptical, argumentative and bloody miserable.
In the intervening years I’ve heard more about Positive Mental Attitude and have even mentioned its importance in my blog posts.
Realistically we can’t live a life full PMA. We all have our ups and downs.
But it does have its uses.
Focusing on the task in hand is easier for me if I concentrate on the “do-able”.
At work, folk who exude negativity are often tied up in conversation or monologues about how hard things are, how unfair the world is and the impossibility of doing the job. They lack energy and drive and seemingly look for obstacles rather than goals.
I have to be vague, for obvious reasons, but yesterday we were up against it. I grafted from 6am and was joined by a colleague who later said she was impressed by my attitude, baring in mind the mostrous task we had in front of us. She stayed an extra hour and we were both “buzzing” but exhausted when we clocked out.
When it’s going well you feel almost detached from the task and are quietly shocked at how quickly the mountain disappears. At one point I was even singing Happy Talk!
The contrast with someone feeling negative is even more obvious when your buzzing. One person came in and sounded so whiny. They complained about their task which paled into insignificance compared to what we’d been doing all day. They wandered off and chatted to colleagues and looked for opportunities to get off task.
No doubt I shall be picking up some of their work today.
One thing is for sure though, I cant keep this thing up forever. Its exhausting!
