The Secret to Increasing Positivity
Based on the book Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine.
Before I get started on how to turn any situation into a completely new, positive setting, I need to explain what PQ is. PQ, in its simplest terms, is the percentage of time that your mind is your friend. The PQ percentage is derived from Positive Intelligence, or the measure of control you have over your mind to act in your best interests.
Learning to increase your PQ is the goal to happiness… and success.
Some of the measured benefits of a higher PQ include: enhancing immune function in the body, low blood pressure, less chance of stroke, better sleep, less pain, and overall longevity.
People with higher PQs tend to make more sales, communicate more efficiently, make more friends, and the list continues.
Shirzad does a great job identifying what the sabotaging thoughts are, which he calls “Saboteurs”; and the opposite, wise thoughts which he calls “Sage.”
The Saboteurs
There are ten Saboteurs we live with, and our job is to identify them. They include:
· Judge- the most important to acknowledge as it is usually the root cause of other Saboteurs to react. It pushes you to find faults within yourself, others, and the environment that surrounds you.
· Avoider- avoids difficult and unpleasant situations. The avoider results in conflict avoidance and procrastination.
· Controller- I am sure we know a few people that are controllers, so this shouldn’t need an explanation.
· Hyper-Achiever- keeps you dependent on continuous success. Pushes a focus on external happiness.
· Hyper-Rational- intense focus on rationality, as opposed to emotional engagement. This causes a distant feeling between the person with this Saboteur and the people they communicate with.
· Hyper-Vigilant- constant anxiety about what can go wrong in the environment you are surrounded by.
· Pleaser- yes, pleasing others too much can be harmful to yourself.
· Restless- looking for excitement in the next task, and the next, and the next, and let’s not forget the next. This forces distraction after distraction to rise about.
· Stickler- the perfectionist Saboteur.
· Victim- uses your emotions to get the best of you. Portrays you as weak in order to gain attention.
Some Saboteurs have a stronger influence, as compared to others. The point is we have them all and we tend to activate these Saboteurs as a result of judging (ourselves, others, environment). Now, before you judge me, let me tell you that there is a solution to this that can weaken these Saboteurs and increase our PQ.
The Sage
Now, there are ways to conquer these damn Saboteurs. Activate your inner Sage.
As opposed to the Saboteurs, the Sage is the wise version of your thoughts that consist of the use of “five great powers”:
· Explore with great curiosity and open-mind.
· Empathize with yourself and others.
· Innovate and create new perspectives and out-of-the-box solutions.
· Navigate and choose a path that best aligns with your deeper underlying values and mission.
· Activate and take action without distress.
This is so important to improving the Sage’s powers.
Any challenge that stands in your way can be faced with the Sage. The best part about using the Sage is not only the joy attached to it, but the results of the “five great powers” (mentioned above). These “five great powers” will be key to becoming more accepting of situations.
Improving the PQ
Now that we got the basic understanding covered… How do you increase your PQ?
Here are the three steps:
1. Weaken your Saboteurs-
Identifying the Saboteurs is the secret to weakening them. Literally call them out. If you start to Judge, call it out. “There’s the Judge telling me that I am not good enough for this.” A simple thought, or saying, like that is all that is required to weaken the Saboteur. Identifying them is the simplest trick.
Another example I can provide is for the Avoider. Since I am a college student it is only natural that some days I don’t want to sit down and do homework. That only leads to procrastination, which has no room in my life. Calling the Avoider out will bring to realization that you’re Saboteur is causing you to avoid the task (homework), and then all that is left to do is completely demolish the task at hand.
2. Strengthen your Sage-
All anxiety is self-generated. The strength of the Sage will determine just how much anxiety you have (the more strength, the less anxiety). Strengthening the Sage involves using the “five great power,” mentioned above, to tackle any situation. You must look at situations, or circumstances, as opportunities. Rest-assured that this does not mean you want to continue to invite more of these types of situations into your life.
What separates someone who uses their Sage, as opposed to their Saboteur, is the ability to accept. Acceptance is key here, and will be the prime factor in increasing your PQ. Believe me when I say that activating your Sage becomes easier when your Saboteurs are weakened, which is the first step.
3. Strengthen your PQ Brain muscles-
How the heck do you do this? Actually, it is pretty simple, but it will take practice. Bring your attention to your body and your five senses for about ten seconds. Telling your mind to focus on your body and five senses will shift your mind from being lost in thought to being in the present, aware of your physical senses. This will help to stimulate the PQ brain. You must exercise this part of your brain to do this, so stimulating it frequently will have a substantial long-term effect. Think of it like exercising in the gym.
Shirzad recommends doing 100 of these ten-second exercises a day. I definitely would not recommend trying 100 the first day, as I am sure you will be discouraged. It will take time to get to that high of a number, so move in small increments.
Hopefully after implementing those three steps, you will see results. This does not happen overnight. Do not be so hard on yourself. If you end up judging yourself for not being able to complete these three steps as quickly as you had thought, then call out your judge J. I recommend you read Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine to get a more in-depth look at to how important PQ is, and why it is so important to be positive for success in a team and as an individual.
