How can Positive Thinking Influence Your Performance at Work CareerMetis.com

How can Positive Thinking Influence Your Performance at Work Close your eyes and imagine a work environment that motivates and inspires you, an environment that unleashes your potential and lets you use your strengths to the fullest. Imagine a job where Mondays become your favorite day and where you are not looking forward to Fridays.While all this sounds very good our eyes closed According to recent research, only 34% of Americans feel engaged at work, i.e. 2 out of 3 Americans lack motivation and desire to go to work and excel in their jobs. Even though this sounds like a very sad reality, there is good news â€" there is at leastone thing you can do to change this reality for the better.And that is … Apparently, positive thoughts do not only broadenour sense of possibility, but they also help us builda new skill set and find resources that we can use later on in our life. That is what she calls the biggest benefit of having positive thoughts.When we have positive thoughts and emotions, the skills that we create tend to last long and can be exploited in other areas of our life. As research shows, we cannot say the same about negative emotions.Negative thoughts and emotions prevent our brain from seeing other options and from building a lifelong skillset. It is more of a survival instinct that comes into play when we experience fear for example. If we are afraid of dogs, and we see a dog in the street, we most probably try to avoid it by changing our way. Usually, we do not even consider other options.You would most probably ask,“But what does positive thinking have to do with work?” Another leading expert on positive psychology, Shawn Anchor, studied the connection between our thoughts and job success. His research has shown that when we are in a positive state of mind, our brain work is 31% more productive than when we experience negative or neutral emotions.evalPositive thoughts and emotions do not only influence our productivity; their positive influence extends to all the levels of work performance like engage ment, creativity, effectiveness.Let’s take a closer look at how positive thinking affects work performance.Problem-solving: evalWhen we are in a positive state of mind, our brain tends to find solutions to every single problem or challenge. Just like Barbara Fredrickson mentioned, we tend to explore more options, we do not limit ourselves to just one-two logical solutions.Positive thinking might not find the best answer immediately, but it will help you think out-of-the-box when your superior gives you a challenging task, for example, or suggests you work on a big project.Energy and resilience: Studies have shown that people with a positive attitudeand mindset have more energy and more enthusiasm than those with a negative one. Moreover, positive thoughts help us recover soon from negative emotions and become more resilient.When you have a long-term project with many milestones to achieve, positive thinking will help you keep your energy up and continue up until the completion of your project. It is not a magic stick but it will undoubtedly support you more than negative thinking.Collaboration and support: It is no surprise that we perform well when we collaborate with our colleagues and when we get their support. Who does not like some motivation boost from their colleagues? But, surprisingly, it is when we provide supportthat we tend to be more engaged at work and perform better.When we are in a positive mindset, we want to improve things and processes around us. More importantly, we want to help people do their job better which, in its turn, affects positively our work performance. However useful positive thinking might seem for our work performance, it should be accompanied by positive action in order to have a real impact. If we only think positively and do not transform it into positive action, change and improvement are not possible.evalSo how can we adopt positive action at our work? Take some time for small thank-you actions Start your day with a th ank-you note or email to a colleague that helped you, to your partner who asked how you were doing at work, or to your manager who helped you out with a challenging project. There is no better way than starting a day with positive action.Know your strengths and try to use them One of the most important steps towards positive action is knowing one’s strengths. 2 out of 3 people have a hard time naming their top 5 strengths, whereas those who know their strengths and have a chance to use them are on average 74% more engaged and 34% more productive at work.Use a strengths finder or ask your friends and colleagues to help you discover your top strengths and start to use them at work. Once you do so, you will feel happier and more satisfied.Meditate and take time to exercisePeople who meditate are more likely to succeed in their efforts towards positive thinking and positive action. Furthermore, continuous meditation helps facilitate the process of foundation of long-lasting skills, pu rposeful work and social support.evalIf you want to maximize the effect of positive thinking, in addition to meditating engage in a 15-minute mindful cardio exercise every day. It will help you feel better and be ready for a positive change.Visualize your positive thoughts and emotions At the end of every working day, take two minutes to write down three positive thoughts, emotions and actions that you had during that day. Do not forget to also mention the strength that helped you in those situations. By doing so, you will reinforce the circuits for the positive and will start seeing the results of your positive thoughts.Keep in mind that positive thinking and positive action are not going to happen in one day. It is a continuous process of a paradigm shift that requires everyday efforts and a great deal of resilience.By doing all these 4 steps, you will gradually feel the shift towards positive thinking and positive action. When we think positively, we see things differently and we explore other ways of making our work more enjoyable for ourselves and for our colleagues.So are you ready for a change?If you would like to know more about successful career building, take a look at this guide to first steps in dream career building.