Positivity
Touch of Care
“What is Positivity?”
Mental attitude of optimism, which searches for favorable outcomes in all situations, that looks past the current circumstance and supports happiness
“How is it going to benefit me?”
- Improves your overall psychological and physical well-being[31]
- Increases happiness, self-competence, confidence, optimism, self-efficacy; likability, positive construals of others; sociability, activity, energy, prosocial behavior, originality and flexibility
- Judged as more physically attractive, intelligent, friendly, warm, morals, and assertive, less selfish, jealous, and self-critic[48][49][50][51][45][32]
Mental Wellbeing
- Helps cope with stress
- Reduces rates of depression, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder[52][53]
- Reduces rates of hypochondriasis & schizophrenia [52][53]
- Sense of personal mastery and control[40][41][42][43]
- Reduces Self Critics[45]
- Decreases chance of engaging in harmful behaviors such as smoking, unhealthy eating, and substance abuse
Physical Wellbeing
- Improves immunity: greater resistance to the common cold, reduces allergic reactions among healthy students[57][52]
- Improves cardiovascular health, decreases risk for cardiovascular disease like stroke and heart disease[52]
- Reduces emergency room and hospital visits, less medication use, and fewer work absences in a sickle cell disease individual[58]
- Reduces pain in a sample of aging veterans[59]
- Decreases chance to deliver low-birth weight infants[60]
- Higher quality of life, better physical recovery, after surgery and chronic medical diseases like stroke, heart disease and cancer[52][61]
- Increases longevity of the life [52][62]
Social & Professional Wellbeing
- Improves leadership skills, will draw more followers, encourage motivation, and engagement in subordinates[52]
- Increases chances of job interviews, better evaluation by supervisors, better performance, productivity, and increase job satisfaction[52][63]
- Increases chance of graduating from college[64]
- More likely to help coworkers, protect the organization, make constructive suggestions, develop one’s own abilities within the organization, and promote resource building[65][66][67]
- Satisfied with their family life, romantic relationships, friends, health, education, leisure activities, housing and transportation[44]
- More likely to describe their partner as being their “great love”.[46]
- More likely to participate in a variety of social and physical activities, to enjoy their leisure time, and to experience more energy and “flow”[47]
“What do I need to do?”
- Start the day with positive affirmations
- Listen to your favorite music—it’s that easy! Music has a unique ability to put you in a positive state of mind, so take advantage of that fact [52]
- Find positive friends, mentors, and co-workers to support and encourage you
- Generate positive emotions by reading positive books and/or watching positive movies
- Manage time, make to-do lists. Do what you can in the moment
- Don’t feel you have to do everything yourself and delegate tasks
- Practice NATS (Negative Automation Thoughts)
- Avoid dwelling on negative thoughts, ideas. Ask yourself Is the negative issue worth your energy. Is it worth it after 24 hours and will this issue matter in an year?
- Worry about it another time, will give you time to rethink, collect, and reflect
- Consider an alternate positive explanation and distract yourself with something fun and positive
- GOODNESS (AIHM fellowship lecture series)
- GOOD: optimize social, mental, emotional, spiritual health foundation
- Nutrition: Improve nutrition
- Exercise: increase physical activity
- Sleep: Improve sleep
- Stress: Cope with stress, transition from reactive to creativity mindset
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot