Deceiving our brains to keep a positive perspective can be a very helpful tool. We do this by changing the narrative.
We are constantly telling ourselves stories. When someone lets the door slam in our face or cuts us off in traffic or looks at us funny in a work meeting, we create a story.
We tell ourselves people are rude, they are inconsiderate, they don’t like us.
Maybe that’s true, but I doubt it. People are pretty great, but they’re also busy and often unaware of how their actions are affecting others.
We can choose to take things personally or we can refuse to be offended by changing the narrative. In other words, we are going to create a new, positive story to replace the negative one swirling through our minds.
My co-author, Nicole J. Phillips and I recently discussed this micro-action of kindness on this short live broadcast.
The Harvard Business Review says, “a large and growing body of research on positive organizational psychology demonstrates that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line."
I’ve been studying how to apply micro-actions of kindness to negative workplace situations. Nicole and I have identified 30 micro-actions, actions so small any of us can do them, that raise positivity. It’s like a candle that instantly eliminates darkness in a dark room when it is lit. Positivity pushes out negativity. It may not happen all at once. And some situations require more work.
The great news is there are small, micro-actions of kindness we can do to bring about workplace positivity.
Now it’s your turn.
In the comments, tell me your #1 takeaway from this post or the podcast and how you plan to use it in your workplace?
Want more? Click here for a free excerpt from Workplace Positivity with three micro-actions.
Workplace Positivity will be published in early March 2021.
For a free excerpt or to learn more about the work I am doing, go to NealNybo.com
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