I recently watched a lecture online given by a man I had never heard of, speaking about ideas that I thought were common sense and probably too simplistic to actually work. This man’s name was Shawn Anchor and his main point was simple: If you have a positive outlook, you will be more productive, and you will be happier.
In order to understand the benefit of adopting a positive outlook, I think it is helpful to think of the typical way we unconsciously see the world on a daily basis. For instance, are we conditioned to remark upon the dozens of people in our subway car that are being pleasant and respectful, or are we likely to focus our attentions on the one person that is doing that one irritating thing? When we read a magazine or newspaper, are the journalists writing more about good work that is being done in the community, or are they writing more so about scandals and crimes that have been committed? Our brains fall into a pattern of only taking note of the negatives when so many positive things happen all around us.
As Mr. Anchor puts it, we need to “retain a pattern of scanning the world, not for the negative, but for the positive first.” Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming the kind of person, no matter what level of success is achieved, that requires more success in order to attain more happiness. In contrast, it is better to acknowledge the good things in your life at the moment instead of relying on one’s next promotion for a boost in happiness or self-satisfaction.
Though this idea may seem like overly-optimistic advice, there is actually a significant amount of evidence to support the claims of the benefits of maintaining positivity. If you are like me, statistics can be very convincing. Mr. Anchor states that through research he has found that “75% of job success is provided by optimism levels, social support, and your ability to see stress as a challenge rather than a threat.” Two of these factors are all about attitude, and are factors that we can choose to change.
Here is a simple way to begin training your brain to scan for positive: Each day, think of three new things that you are grateful for. Retaining a positive outlook will have effects on your energy levels, intelligence, and creativity.
In retrospect, my initial skepticism of Mr. Anchor’s ideas may have been an example of my own habit of scanning the world for the negative, rather than the positive. By implementing exercises that train our brains to be positive, we ought to wake up each morning and wonder, “What can go right today?” rather than the opposite.
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