A Positive Attitude

A Positive Attitude

Attitude is fundamental to long term stress management. Where your attitude is negative, opportunities seem like problems or even disasters. If you are hostile, you will create stress by alienating and irritating other people. On the other hand, with a positive attitude, you can maintain a sense of perspective and recognize the elements in any situation which align with your purposes or from which you can learn valuable lessons. You will find others to be more helpful and co-operative as they find you a pleasure to work with. Which attitude you adopt is really a matter of choice - your choice.

When you are under stress it is very easy to lose perspective. Problems that are relatively minor can take on an apparent size that makes them seem intimidating. Naturally this feeds your feeling of stress, which makes your problems feel worse, which feeds your feeling of stress....

If you take a positive approach, trying to find a good side to every situation, then you will find that you are much less prone to stress. You will worry less, sleep better and enjoy life more. Consider: What good has worrying ever done you?

Start to view mistakes as valuable learning experiences - if you have learned something you did wrong, and then the whole experience has a positive value. When you face what seems to be a huge and overwhelming problem, ask yourself the following questions:

Is this really a problem at all?

If you view it in a different way, is it actually an opportunity to do something well? If it really is a difficult problem, then most other people will probably fail at it or give up. If you can deal with the situation, then this will be a major triumph for you. If you take the problem on, then what will you learn from it, whatever the outcome?

Is this a problem that another person also has or has had?

If so, find out how they deal with it or just talk to them to share the problem - they may be glad to talk. If you are facing a problem at work, talk to older or more experienced colleagues whom you trust. They will probably have seen the problem before and may be able to help to put it in perspective. Also you can learn from their mistakes.

Can you break it down?

With a little thought you can usually reduce seemingly huge and impossible problems to a number of smaller, more manageable problems or tasks.
If you are facing a lot of problems, can you prioritize them?
This helps you to work out the order in which you should approach tasks, and helps you to distinguish between important jobs and jobs that can be deferred.

Does it really matter anyway?

If everything goes wrong, will it really matter anyway? If it does, will it matter in six months or a year? Bear in mind that you will probably have plenty of opportunities to correct any failure, or to shine in other ways if things go wrong. As long as you have done your best, and learn from any mistakes you make, then you cannot do any better. n