Everyone talks about staying positive and having a positive attitude, but what happens when that gets hard? Clients are extremely demanding, committees are tough to manage, and people say careless things that while you don’t want to notice, get stuck in your head. When that happens, it can be tough to stay on the positive side of things. What can you do?
If someone says something hurtful or unkind to me or about me, I generally try to think of someone who deserves something positive and send them a note. It sounds very pollyanna when I type it here, but it is true. Sending a person I work with on a committee a note telling her how much I enjoy her attitude and how well she gets things done, or telling a client how impressed I am with his ability to move in multiple circles while navigating difficult information helps me change my head space. Instead of focusing on me and what’s upset me, I focus on making sure the people I care about are in a good space. Which, in turn, causes me to change my thinking because I’m focused on the positive people in my life who I enjoy. Does whatever happen still bother me? Of course. But less. And it is usually easier to move on to something else and forget about it for awhile until it either becomes a non-issue or can be managed.
What do you do in those situations?
Leave a Reply