Advice from CEOs about How to Be More Positive
I recently wrote about the benefits of being more positive. But, how do we go about actually being positive? “Isn’t that something we are just born with?”, you might be thinking.
Yes, some people are naturally more optimistic than others. They see possibility when others see dead ends and limitations. They see upside when others only see downside.
As an eternal optimist and someone who sees possibility in everyone and everything (okay, most things), I do believe that all of us can find ways to be more positive.
10 Ways to Be More Positive
I recently asked a group of CEOs about the value of positive thinking and how they go about cultivating optimism in themselves and their teams. Our conversation highlighted the universal benefit of being positive, so I wanted to share some quick tips to help you be more positive. The tips come from the work I do as an executive coach as well as the insights from the group of seasoned CEOs.
Eliminate Negative Self-Talk
We are often our own worst enemies and the singular impediment to our success. Self-limiting beliefs spin into negative thoughts and negative self-talk in our heads. One of my clients refers to these as the “old tapes” that we play over and over again. Start to stop the tape from playing by taking an honest assessment of any underlying belief. Ask yourself, “Is this even true?” or “Does this still apply?” Then replace those thoughts with something positive or at least the fact that you are making progress. Consider alternate thoughts such as, “I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting better” or “I’m putting in the work every day and I’ll definitely get there.” Even a slight shift in the tone of these “tapes” will bring more positivity into your days which will be a big boost to your confidence and ultimately your performance.
Sit and Process the Negative Thoughts
Sometimes we need to sit with our negative thoughts, process them, and then move on. To some people, this may seem like you are giving in to the negative thoughts. In fact, it’s just the oppositive. Taking time to process the negative thoughts allows you to acknowledge they are there, take an honest assessment about what they mean, and then flush them and move on.
Journaling, meditating, and prayer offer a few different modes to sit with these thoughts so that you can move on. Sean Li, CEO of Clever FM, said he uses journaling to “take out the trash” and eliminate some of these negative thoughts. Doing so acknowledges they exist and allows you to move past them. Inspired by Sean, I’ve started to add this to my journaling practice. In addition to using journaling to capture daily progress and ideas, I am now intentional to note the negative thoughts in my head. Thoughts like, “My stress from work yesterday led to my impatience with my sons” or “I am frustrated by my lack of progress on…” Putting those thoughts on paper allows me to acknowledge them and move on. The result is one less brick on my mental stack and a more positive outlook for the day.
Focus on What You Can Control
Our days and weeks are chaotic. One way to be more positive is to focus on what we can control. Consider the bevy of items you can’t control – the moves your competitors make, the thoughts and beliefs of your colleagues, changes in the marketplace. But what about the things you can control? Your attitude, your effort, and the way you speak to others. These are among the many aspects of your life that you can control. Focusing on these areas will help you be more positive and also lead to strong results–creating a self-propagating loop of positive thinking and outcomes.
Focus on Your Purpose
One way I boost my sense of positivity is to focus on my purpose. For me, it’s “to help unleash the inner lion within leaders so that they can lead more authentic and joyful lives while creating stronger and more resilient teams, organizations, and communities.” Focusing on hard metrics, while critical to the success of my business, like deals won, revenue, and brand awareness tend to be a drag on my positivity when they don’t go in the right direction. On the flip side, when I focus on fulfilling my purpose (helping leaders), whether that’s in my writing, speaking, or coaching work, that’s when positive thoughts fill my day.
Side Note: If purpose feels like a nebulous concept and “nice to have” in your life, I’d encourage you to spend time not trying to “find” purpose, but to create purpose in your life.
Accomplish a Big Priority First Thing
Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, sets a priority for the following day and makes sure to achieve it by 11 AM. Doing so will allow you to get a win under your belt early in the day. A win that will boost both your level of confidence and optimism about the day ahead.
At the end of each day, ask yourself, “What is the one task, if accomplished, would make tomorrow a success?” Then, be sure to timebox your calendar to ensure you can achieve that one task. This will allow you to architect at least one win per day that will boost your attitude throughout the balance of the day.
In addition to the tips that I use above, the CEOs in the group provided some additional tips to be more positive.
Tune Out the Noise and Focus on What You Can Solve
One of the CEOs in the group starts the day by identifying a task he can solve and not the “noise” that can’t be solved. Similar to what Tim Ferris advocates, completing a key, solvable task first thing provides a boost of positivity that can buoy your attitude throughout the day. Try applying his advice and turn away from the incessant Slack pings about the challenging colleague and focus on tackling a task you can successfully solve. Doing so will help bolster a more positive mindset.
Follow the Data
One data-driven CEO boosts his level of optimism by the way he handles key busines data. He advocates “following the data” but “to do the best we can best with the data.” In sharing data about sales, customer churn, and customer satisfaction with his team, he asks his team, “What’s the best we can do based on the data?” Doing so helps the team step over any negativity baked into the data and to focus on positive outcomes. It also shifts their thinking from being mired in negativity to one centered on problem solving.
Immerse Yourself in a Positive Environment
Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. While Rohn’s comment was aimed at our level of success based on who we surround ourselves with, the same logic applies to our mindset. Surround yourself with naysayers and pessimists, and you’ll quickly find your thinking drift to all the reasons a new idea or opportunity isn’t possible. Spend time with optimistic folks who think in terms of possibility and figuring out ways to make things possible, and you will start to develop a more positive outlook.
This doesn’t mean that we should avoid people with contrarian views who can point out false assumptions and blind spots. The point is to be aware of the people who surround us. If you tend to view the world pessimistically, consider adding people to your inner circle who see things more positively to help boost positive thinking.
While the group universally championed the importance of positive thinking, a few CEOs also provided a some cautionary words of wisdom.
Be Positive, but Not Delusional
Leaders, as one CEO noted, need to be positive, but be wary of coming across as delusional. Positive leaders accept and communicate that a situation isn’t great, but put a positive spin on it. Delusional leaders might say, “This new product launch is guaranteed to be successful” despite data that says otherwise and a lack of budget for a successful launch. People will see through leaders who are delusional, so be sure to ground positive thinking in the reality of the situation – the point of the next tip.
Start by Acknowledging Reality
Another CEO pointed out that leaders need to strike a balance of being positive and acknowledging reality. Leaders who convey an unrealistic and overly positive view of a given situation will quickly lose the trust of their teams. Instead, leaders should acknowledge the reality of a situation, but then share their optimism for what’s possible based on that reality. Go further by providing the rationale for your optimism; the experience of the team, early marketplace data, and past, similar successes.
Key Takeaway
As these CEOs confirmed, being positive is an important characteristic of great leaders. Even the most positive people among us experience bouts of negativity, so try out these tips when your optimism dips. Positive thinking will help you see possibility in place of dead ends and get you back on the path to success and greatness.
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