As someone who always believes in the power of positive thinking, I truly think attitude is everything. Until the other day, I had never understood what the word “affirmation” meant. I’d heard it before, but I hadn’t really spent much time investigating its meaning.
But when someone asked, “What is one thing that could happen to prevent you from getting angry?” I responded, “If more people took the time to tell me that I did something good, or that they were impressed with how I handled something, it would probably make me more mild-mannered.”
This may seem odd, but I am someone who always believes in praising the work of others. This is partly because, early in my career, I learned that praising people makes it easier to be direct and firm with them when they mess something up. You always had to be overly positive when acknowledging work that was well done.
But I’ve now learned that positive affirmations go a long way. They influence how you think about things, your mental state, and how you view yourself and the work you’re doing. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t need anyone to tell me how great I am. I do a good enough job of that on a daily basis 😊. But what is really rewarding and encouraging is to hear positive affirmations that sometimes come unexpectedly.
It could be someone simply saying, “Hey, I like your shirt,” or “It looks like you’ve lost weight,” before they even start discussing work-related things. Or it might be, “Hey, that was a really good job,” “Congratulations on a job well done,” or “That was a really nice piece of creative you thought up.”
You can give positive affirmations in many ways, but the simple fact is, you just need to give them. People need to hear them, yourself included. And the more you give, the more likely you are to receive.