Real success tip #1: Positive thinking
happiness → success
Or is it the other way around?
success → happiness …
Or does it work both ways?
success ↔ happiness
Actually, it is an upward spiral where happiness leads to success, leading to more happiness, leading to more success, and so on.
The upward spiral is a real concept in psychology, used to describe a build-up of positive emotions. Here, we tell you more about it and how it could change your life.
The “broaden and build” theory
Psychologists, including Barbara L. Fredrickson, have noted that negative emotions are beneficial in cases of survival: fear, the perception of danger when a car is coming right at you without slowing, will trigger instinctive reactions so that you jump out of the car’s way.
Negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts so that you immediately react instead of contemplating all the different ways that you could escape the speeding car.
On the opposite end, positive emotions open new doors and provide you with more competencies to draw upon. In Fredrickson’s words, “positive emotions appear to broaden peoples’ momentary thought–action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources.”
This has come to form the “broaden and build” theory, tested by Fredrickson herself through a series of classroom experiments. Individuals exposed to and feeling positive emotions such as love and joy were more creative and expressive. This is because one’s mind is free of immediate needs and stressors.
Because positive emotions enhance other character traits such as creativity, communication, empathy, and curiosity, they help us build new skills and improve life satisfaction. Therefore, in the long-term, temporary positive emotions lead to greater resilience, overall well-being, increased health, better coping capabilities and a longer life.
Joy, for instance, creates the urge to play, push the limits and be creative; urges evident not only in social and physical behaviour, but also in intellectual and artistic behaviour.
Interest, a phenomenologically distinct positive emotion, creates the urge to explore, take in new information and experiences, and expand the self in the process.
Contentment, a third distinct positive emotion, creates the urge to sit back and savour current life circumstances, and integrate these circumstances into new views of self and of the world.
Love — viewed as an amalgam of distinct positive emotions (e.g. joy, interest and contentment) experienced within contexts of safe, close relationships — creates recurring cycles of urges to play with, explore and savour our loved ones.
From “The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions” study by Barbara L. Fredrickson, 2004.
Strengthening these feelings will increase your physical, social, intellectual and personal resources, thus transforming you into a more creative, knowledgeable, resilient, socially integrated, healthy and successful version of yourself. All of these qualities are key to success. This new you will be happy with the transformation, thereby bringing new positive feelings, and new personal resources as well as success and happiness, all forming an upward spiral of happiness and success.
The key: a positive mindset!
To fight back negative emotions and cultivate positive ones and their associated benefits instead, you should train your brain to think positively. A positive and constructive approach not only makes you feel good but also changes your performance and gives you motivation. Your loved ones, friends, and colleagues will see and appreciate the change. You will not only improve your relationships but also make others feel better as well — happiness is contagious!
Your productivity will improve, as you will no longer view your tasks as simply something that needs to be done, but as something that adds to your life. In addition, you will build new resources that make you more efficient and motivated.
Since you will not be dreading your tasks anymore, you will have better control over your time management, leaving you more time to do something that you enjoy even more!
How to think positively ? —for tough situations too
- Do not negatively self-talk: Don’t blame yourself for things that are outside of your control. When you start having critical thoughts about yourself in situations where you did nothing wrong, take a moment to pause and assess. You are great.
- Do not blame others, try to understand them: Compassion for others has been proven to help you regulate emotions. Wish other people well. This will also help you avoid developing conditioned negative emotions toward someone. Don’t think “I hate this guy, he is so mean!” but instead “I wonder why he reacted this way? I wish that he finds peace with his thoughts and may he feel better tomorrow.”
- Try to explain events with positive words: Everything can be turned into a constructive moment. You might try a different approach next time. Remember positive things that happened to you today. Give yourself credit.
- Take part in activities that trigger the aforementioned positive emotions as often as you can. Do what you enjoy doing, what makes you feel good about yourself, e.g. socializing, working out, spending time in nature.
- Try meditation: Fredrickson has shown that people who meditate display more positive emotions than those who do not.
- Write down 3 things that you are grateful for every day.
- See the bigger picture beyond a task: Ask yourself why you need to do it and what it will bring you.
The more you train yourself to think positively, the more you will do so naturally. Make it become your conditioned response.
Because every little step that you achieve today — big or small — matters. Doesn’t everyone deserve to be happy and successful? You hold it all in your hand. You can make a difference with every action you take.
Join our mission … let’s make the world a happier place!
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