What's Your Story?

What story do you wish someone would tell about you?

Chances are, you would like it to be a positive one that depicts you as a strong and confident person who is beautiful inside and out, intelligent in thought, generous in spirit, and kind in deed. The way you define yourself is powerful; it helps form your self-identity—the story of yourself that you believe.

"Employing the spirit of positivity in your life is the straightest line to your greatest story."

Nothing beats positive. Powerful and contagious, a positive attitude changes the way you look at the world and the way the world looks at you. Positivity has the extraordinary ability to shape-shift and improve almost any situation, making it the finest elixir ever concocted to enhance every facet of life. Practicing and maintaining a positive outlook may be the single, most powerful thing you can do to invite success into your life.

The concept of positivity isn’t new. For thousands of years, it fell to philosophers and religious leaders to speak and write about the virtues and healing properties of keeping a positive frame of mind. Broadly popularized throughout the twentieth century by authors such as Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the same idea with a new name has now become a part of twenty-first-century curriculums, medical journals, scientific studies, focus groups, and thought leadership, worldwide.

Be Your Own Positivity Psychologist

When you put the emphasis on what’s working in your life, notice the glass as half full, or look on the bright side, you are functioning as your own positivity psychologist, shape-shifting your paradigm, creating optimal experiences for yourself, and changing the course of your day, your week, and possibly even your life.

Exercise your internal Q&A:

Q: What would it be like to take on a completely positive tone? What if having a positive outlook and optimistic tenor became who you are? Could you be unstoppable, undaunted, and unchallenged? Could you turn a rising tide of negativity into a powerhouse of opportunity?

A: Yes, you could and keeping some simple but powerful ideas in mind makes that job easier.

Choose to Be Positive

Every day, you have a choice—you can choose positive over negative. Remembering that you have that choice allows you to more easily steer yourself past negative comments, the people who make them, and the repercussions they cause.

Remember to Be Grateful

Gratitude is fuel for a positive outlook. Find something to be grateful for every single day—big or small. Concentrate on what you have and appreciate it.

Manage Your Expectations

Achieving success in any of the life situations you face requires you to show up, pay attention, tell the truth, and not be attached to the results, but it’s this last step that manages expectations most effectively. Developing a healthy detachment to the outcome of a situation allows you to be fully present when you show up, assess what’s going on, give it your all, say what you believe to be true if asked, and then let go of any predetermined ideas about what you think should happen or how you think things should be resolved—even when you desire a certain result. Knowing how and when to adopt a healthy level of indifference as situations get resolved will serve you well.

Be Courageously Vulnerable

Allow yourself to be vulnerable using the courage it takes to risk disappointment in the outcome of a situation if it doesn’t go your way. Take a chance—the chance to believe. If you can believe the best is possible, despite your doubts, you will be able to tap into the sanctuary of hope that lives right next door to gratitude inside your heart and bravely rise above the kind of fear and cynicism that immobilizes and stifles forward movement in life.

Lead By Example

A straight line can be drawn from a positive outlook and attitude to personal power and agency. A positive person is a powerful person with a high degree of self-knowledge, who by default, leads others in that same direction. Leading with positivity shines a light down a better pathway and inspires others to follow you there.

Reap the Benefits

Feel better and look better. The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine states, “Optimism is sometimes seen as pollyannaism, a naively rosy view of the world coupled with a 'don’t worry, be happy’ attitude. However, optimism the way researchers study it, is a disposition to an expectation that the future will entail more positive events than negative ones. Optimists are neither in denial nor naive about challenges and difficulties in life. They simply attend to and acknowledge the positive.” In addition to feeling a whole lot better than Debby Downer, there is a big physical payoff for a Pollyanna: they look younger, brighter, more vibrant, and more alive!

We all have our own stories to tell. You are responsible for what yours looks and sounds like as you go along in life writing, rewriting, editing, and revising your manuscript. When your story includes a positive outlook your chances of making it onto the non-fiction best-seller list with a # 1 blockbuster are exponentially higher!

[1] Angeles Arrien, The Four-Fold Way, HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. [2] “Positive Psychology and Physical Health: Research and Applications,” National Institute of Health; The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6124958/#bibr4-1559827614550277.