Positive mind, positive vibes, positive (work) life.

Feb 24

Written by ls2group

Did you know your actions are inspired by your thoughts?

Most of us chatter with ourselves all day long. I’ve researched, learned, and practiced that as long as thoughts are positive, actions and results in the workplace will be positive. And that benefits everyone – the people around us, especially clients, coworkers, and families.

A few years back, I came across the article 7 Steps to Positive Self Talk from 2008. It describes ways to achieve positive self-talk in your everyday routine. Four years later that article stills resonates with me. Since that discovery, I’ve learned that applying healthy self-talk and pairing my yoga fundamentals to my everyday work environment have gotten me through the most challenging of days.

What exactly is self-talk? Self-talk is that little voice inside of us that controls our everyday thoughts and actions. Unfortunately, those thoughts aren’t always positive, but author Evelyn Lim defined seven key steps to positive self-talk to eliminate negative conversations with ourselves and convert them into empowering thoughts.

Eliminate internal negative chatter
Positive affirmations
Positive scripts
Replace negative influences with positive ones
Present tense messages
Confront fears
Focus on enjoyable moments

Although all seven key steps are important for our own well-being, positive affirmations, presenting tense messages, confronting fears, and focusing on enjoyable moments were the four that stood out to me the most.

Positive affirmations may be the most important step out of the entire seven. Workdays often present challenges that can be discouraging, which may generate negative thoughts about ourselves and the situation at hand. If we rid the negative thoughts and replace them with positive statements, our esteem and actions will not only benefit our coworkers, but also the quality of work for clients.

Two ways we can use positive affirmations in the workplace include repeating positive thoughts to ourselves (out loud or in our heads) or post insightful notes around our desks. At LS2group, there are various workspaces that showcase positive notes. Not only is it a great reminder to the person who sits in that area, but also a reminder to the team of what inspires each of us as individuals.

Presenting tense messages is a very important step. There may be certain obstacles standing in our way to reaching our daily and long-term goals, whether it’s finishing a big proposal for a client, prepping for a big presentation, or completing a to-do list for the day.

Lim suggests asking ourselves, “What can I do right now?” Changing our internal talk from a future anxiety to one that is more manageable in the present helps us concentrate on the steps to take in the present to reach goals.

I’ve also learned that when situations become tense or challenging, finding my breath and condensing it to a steady pace helps cultivate my concentration. Paying attention to my breath also slows my mind down.

Confronting our fears is what will take our work to the next level. We often hold ourselves back from taking risks because we are scared of the outcome or losing the security we take for granted. But we need to ask ourselves, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

I’ve learned that practice makes perfect. I believe this is also true with fear. Taking risks and challenging myself has only made me a more efficient and confident marketing individual. The benefits I’ve gained by taking risks for not only myself but for my clients have been much more rewarding than not taking the risk at all. I’ve only grown from my experiences.

Focusing on enjoyable moments makes life much happier than focusing on hard moments. I am grateful for the positive culture at LS2group. We create enjoyable moments for each other, every single day. Whether that’s eating lunch together or walking over to Thelma‘s to grab a sweet treat, you can always count on a comrade at LS2group.

Positive self-talk promotes positive actions. Positive actions promote a positive workplace. And a positive workplace promotes a positive outcome for our clients. Do you see the trend?

How do you use self-talk to increase positivity in the workplace? Leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you!