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The Positive Project

December 2nd, 2013 by Marcy Schwab

I have plans to write about quite a number of blog posts on the concept of positivity. I don’t just plan to write about them, but I plan to live them and relay my findings. Topics that range from taking a positive approach to everyday communication to the contemplation of the idea of what you stand for (it can’t be negative, can it?) Why talk so much about positivity? Well, I would argue that positivity that leads to possibility.

January is the time of year when people try to fulfill on their promises of the New Year’s resolution. It’s great that most want to improve their lives in some meaningful way and work toward that end. At the same time, it’s clearly well understood that few people, nay hardly any, actually keep their resolutions and make them a way of life. I wonder if it’s because they see something negative in their lives, and they want to turn it around?

Experience suggests that making positive moves from a position of strength has a greater probability of long-term success. What if New Year’s resolutions were built on the premise that there are things that are good and one wants them to continue and get better? It would seem that one would be able to make incremental steps and see the benefit of small progress over time rather than wholesale changes in a New York minute. If you believe that you get “some” exercise everyday by walking the steps and that’s a good thing, then perhaps your resolution may be that you will walk the steps two more times per day until you reach 25 times in a day. You are already doing it, so let’s do it more.

Similarly, in business, if you are trying to work on your communication style to be more polished. Instead of the daunting task of radically changing up your style, perhaps you could find areas where you are already seen as effective and use those capabilities to improve the way in which you interact with others.

Truth be told, we are talking about mostly a semantic change to the way in which we are looking improvement. It’s a well known fact that, though, that the approach can make a big difference.

Start from strength and make small positive changes from your positions of strength. It works. Give it a try.

You will see other topics coming soon to include:

The Beautiful Experiment
One Glorious Positive Day
Everyday Communication
The Tough Conversation
Positivity and Your Personal Brand
Prioritization (what you choose to respond to first)
What Do you Stand For
Giving and Receiving Feedback
The Power of Possibility.

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