POSITIVE THINKING

Being surrounded by a positive environment at work can benefit you both mentally and physically.

It affects your mood, attitude, confidence and how you perform at work.

Positive thinking can be a powerful tool but also a skill to have as it can have a positive impact on your working life.

It can assist you to stay motivated and help you to collaborate well with your colleagues, as well as influence how your colleagues and customers view you.

Let us have a look at thinking positively at work, how to be positive and how you can put positive thinking into practice at your workplace.

Do you tend to see the glass as half empty or half full? 

If your environment is positive and you have a positive outlook and mindset, things will feel more positive and enjoyable. Being positive can influence the people around you i.e., your colleagues. This in turn can make your colleagues feel more positive and happier at work too.

Together you create a positive working environment.

An effective way to develop positive thinking at your workplace is to appreciate and value small steps of success and progress. Be and feel a sense of achievement with what you have accomplished.

Tip! Look at what you have achieved today. Do it daily, no matter how small your achievement is.

Spend time developing your positive thinking, even if there are things or tasks you do not like to do or enjoy doing. Try and make them into something positive instead. For example, if you are in a queue and know it will take a while, use that time to do something such as replying or sending e-mails providing it is on your phone!

A clever idea is to reflect often especially once you have accomplished something or completed a work task. Reflect on what went well and what went less well. Think about how you can learn from it to make your next task more successful.

If you surround yourself with a negative environment and people, you are most likely to get brought down with it and it can affect your own mental and physical health.

Spend your time wisely and surround yourself with people and environments that make you feel good and feed your positivity. You may view things from a different angle than before if you do!

Another tip is to use words that represent positivity such as “generous,” “kind,” “well done,” “great,” “believe,” “rewarding,” “thank you” etc. By using words like these will help you build and develop a positive environment and atmosphere at your workplace.

You can also reflect on projects or challenging events/situations at work, not only reflect on what went well and what did not. To give yourself a positive outlook, start by writing down five things you are grateful for each day. This will help you to express gratitude and develop your positive thinking skills. You can also try and reflect on people and events, what did you enjoy and what did you not enjoy?!

What are the benefits of positive thinking?

• Boosts productivity
• Better coping skills
• A better working environment
• Personal growth
• Increases collaboration
• Better mental and physical health
• Lower rates of depression
• Less affected by stress
• Reduced risk of heart disease