Positive or Negative

Larry David created the TV hits “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” While David lived most of his life in Los Angeles, he grew up in Brooklyn. One year, while filming a show in New York City, he went to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. During a lull in the game, cameras sent his image up to gigantic Jumbotron screens. The entire stadium of fans stood to cheer him. Later that evening, as David was leaving, someone leaned out of a passing car and yelled, “Larry, you suck!” On his way home, David obsessed about that comment, wondering who the guy was and why he would say something like that. It was as though those fifty thousand adoring fans didn’t exist, just that one critical guy.

Focus on the Negative … or the Positive?

You probably know people like David, those who regularly focus on the negative instead of the positive in any situation. Replaying negative thoughts over and over in your head does more than make you unhappy in the moment. Research shows such ruminating rewires your brain to make it easier for you to think negative thoughts in the future. Just like walking across a lawn carves a path in the grass, repeated negative thinking builds up the pathway between the parts of your brain that reinforce negativity.

Fortunately, the reverse is also true. Focusing on the positive can build your capacity to see the surrounding good. It is important to reinforce this skill with repeated positive thinking, so that you can hone your capacity for fostering positive outlook in your interactions and overall perspective on life.

High-Performing Leaders Have a Positive Outlook

Being skilled at seeing the positive, even in adverse situations, is one of the most pivotal aspects of Emotional Intelligence that distinguishes high-performers. Sigal Barsade, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, mentioned this in a Harvard Business Review article. She referred to research that shows the connection between positive emotions and better performance, quality, and customer service. This is true regardless of role, industry, or organizational level.

People with this skill recognize the opportunity in every situation and see other people positively. Looking ahead, they expect to make changes in the future that affect their lives for the better.

Optimism is not a set trait: we can change the brain and our personal outlook only with practice. One simple way is to practice seeing the good in people, situations, and events.

Experiment with this technique:

Researchers have found the practice of intentionally recalling things that go well helps prime the brain for optimism. Try this: today, and if you can, each day this week, write down three things that went well for you. It is helpful to describe exactly what went well. Your list can include simple things (for example: “my daughter’s laughter made me smile”) or significant things (for example “my patient’s cancer went into remission and I got to share the good news with them and their family.”).

Write down exactly what happened, and how it made you feel at the time. Try to recall the event is as much detail as you can, to help you reconnect with the positive feelings again. This can take a little more effort but gets easier with practice and can make a difference in how your start to retrain your brain.

You may want to try doing this at night before you go to sleep. Research has shown that people experience increased happiness immediately afterward, as well as in the following weeks and months.

What do you notice when you take the time to reflect on what is going well? Does it shift your outlook? If so, in what ways?

Take a few minutes to share your thoughts below. Try not to overthink it—complete sentences and correct grammar aren’t necessary here.

Submit