The Positive Mindset: Reframing your workplace Experience.
Positive minds think alike.
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to thrive in their workplace while others struggle, even though they’re in similar environments? The difference often comes down to mindset. And not just positive thinking, but a deliberate approach to how we perceive and engage with our work life.
I’ve recently read Shawn Achor’s book, “The Happiness Advantage” and currently reading Dr. Tara Swart’s “The Source” and I have come across eye-opening insights about how our brains responds to workplace experiences. And if we’re stuck in a rut, there are strategies we can use to change our perspective about work itself.
This isn’t about denying workplace stress and challenges or forcing a smile (though some scientific evidence suggests this works) but rather understanding how our brain works and how we have control to create more fulfilling work experiences and relationships. In this blog post, I’ll discuss three areas where making a positive change can have an enormous difference in workplace life, and go over practical strategies that’ll help do so.
Appreciate your Job, Colleagues and Opportunities
Strengthen your Workplace Friendships
Managing Work-Related Stress
1. Appreciating your Workplace
Our brain is an incredibly powerful and adaptable organ, constantly rewiring itself based on our thoughts and experiences. According to Dr. Tara Swart in her book “The Source”, when we consciously practice appreciation, at home or at work, we’re actually training neural pathways to release dopamine (feel good hormone) and serotonin (happy hormone).
And according to Shawn Achor in “The Happiness Advantage”, practicing appreciation or gratitude, helps train your brain to scan for positives rather than negatives in your environment. This is huge since a lot of stressors emanate from the work environment. If you’re able to look and scan for the good within the bad, you’ll start to change how you perceive your work for the better.
Here are three things you can do to shift your mindset and look at the positives at work:
Gratitude Journaling
Before going to bed, Achor recommends writing down three things you're grateful for each day. This trains your brain to scan for positives rather than negatives in your environment. To add to this, you can write down your thoughts and feelings, reflecting on what happened and perhaps, what didn’t.
Visualization
Drawing from Dr. Swart's concept of action/vision boards, you can visualize positive workplace outcomes simply by finding an image representing that outcome. For example, a magazine cutout of a person delivering a successful speech in a boardroom full of executives or a professional receiving a handshake from a boss for a promotion. Visualization helps activate the brain's reward center and helps manifest professional success through focused attention.
Activate the ‘Tetris Effect’
Achor describes the Tetris Effect as training your brain to spot patterns of possibility rather than focusing on challenges. One peculiar approach to this is to positively prime the beginning of your day by simply reading, watching or listening to something funny or uplifting. According to Achor, by priming your morning before work in an cheerful way, you set an optimistic filter that lets in the positives and stop the negatives.
2. Strengthen your social workplace circle
Research cited by Achor in "The Happiness Advantage" shows that strong social connections at work predict everything from productivity to living a longer life (longevity)! In fact, Achor states that workplace relationships might be the single most important factor in our professional happiness and success, even above our personal life!
But meaningful workplace friendships don't happen. You have to take action and put in the work to cultivate and nurture those relationships. Here are some ways both Achor and Dr. Swart suggest to build your connections at work and increase your workplace happiness.
Social Investment
Achor suggests that investing in work connections if the most important predictor of professional success and contentment. Therefore, try doing ‘connection rituals': these are brief interactions with colleagues. Not just a simple “hi” or “How’s it going?” then leaving. It’s more thoughtful questions like what their weekend hobby is or their thoughts on a particular issue. You can even share what you’re struggling with and ask for help. Remember to keep it genuine. This helps builds rapport which can go a long way at creating a healthy work environment.
Cultivate the “Pygmalion Effect”
According to Achor, the Pygmalion Effect is a psychological phenomenon where high expectations of someone leads to high and improved performance whereas low expectations creates the opposite. Achor suggests to use this effect positively by treating colleagues as if they’re at their best can actually bring out their innate potential. Basically, make your colleagues feel like they’re star players and they’ll perform like one.
Interact with Positivity
Dr. Swart’s research shows that by interacting with other in a positive and genuine way, creates deeper bonds and improved collaboration. This ‘synchronization’ doesn’t happen in a vacuum as pointed out previously. Consistent, mindful and authentic interactions are key to building a lasting and collaborative workplace.
3. Managing Work-Related Stress
Workplace stress is inevitable and almost always unavoidable. It happens: maybe the business is about to go under or a colleague got fired/let go for unknown reasons, making you pick up the slack. When workplace stress feels overwhelming, our brain's threat response system kicks into high gear, (fight or flight system) flooding our bodies with cortisol (stress hormone) and adrenaline. This is great for escaping a threat but terrible for strategic thinking and creativity.
The key to managing stress then is to retrain your brain to distinguish between genuine threats and opportunities for growth. Here are a few ways to do that:
Start Small
Achor suggests that when a situation becomes tough at your job, focus on small manageable goals. For example, maybe it’s organizing your desk, redoing your schedule to address current business priorities. it could be preparing a list of things to do the next work day or preparing for a big speech at the next meeting. The idea is to create some sense of control and to train yourself to consistently take action. Often when stress hits us, we get stuck and don’t know what to do. Achor implores to just start small and build from there.
Take Care of Yourself
When we’re burdened and feel distressed, the last thing we think about is our health. To counter the stress, we go straight to something that’ll make us feel good like eating foods rich in sugars, binge watching our favorite shows well into the night or even play video games until morning. Dr. Swart recommendation is to prioritize healthy-habits. Avoid reaching for that donut or soda and go for a protein-rich foods like chicken and vegetables. Instead of watching or playing video games, read a book or go for walk or to the gym and exercise. Lastly, she urges to get enough quality sleep which is around 7-9 hours. To further counter stress, consider doing mindfulness practices like meditations or breath work.
Change your Perspective
As mentioned before, changing how you see overwhelming situations helps you manage those events better. Reframe your perspective by seeing stressful circumstances as opportunities for growth. A great technique is to have an ‘attitude of gratitude’. How? Being grateful helps shift your mindset by scanning for the positives rather than looking at the negatives.
What Next?
The workplace will always have its challenges. Things will always go astray. But by consciously choosing how we perceive and respond to those challenges, we can create more fulfilling professional lives regardless of what happens.
Remember by shifting your mindset to a more positive one, you train your brain to recognize opportunities, build meaningful connections, and manage pressures, especially at the workplace. All that it requires is consistent effort and the will to be better. You got this!
Courtesy Microsoft
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