Help Others Be Positive

Optimistic people want to be surrounded by other positive people. But life has a way of putting negative people and thinkers in your path.

Most of the time, it happens for a reason. Maybe they need you. But that doesn’t make it easy.

You want them to wake up and see what’s right instead of obsessing over what’s wrong. To notice the gains instead of the gaps. But most days, that doesn’t happen on its own.

So what do you do?

You accept the challenge. Because you know if you redirect the words, you redirect the mind.

Equip yourself with what I call “positive responses” that redirect their attention toward what’s right instead of what’s wrong. Here are three of my favorites “positive responses”:

1. “I hear the problem, let’s trade it for a plan.”

   Instead of spinning on what’s wrong, you guide them to think about how to make it better. When they help shape the plan, they buy in, and they start to see possibilities.

2. “I get that, but what’s one positive in this situation?”
   The brain defaults to what’s broken. Redirecting them to name one positive trains their mind to look for good more often. They might get frustrated by this response, but if delivered with the right tonality and consistently, it will rub off.

3. “If this doesn’t work, what would you prefer instead?”
   This shifts from reactive optimism to proactive optimism. Instead of waiting for something to fail, they imagine solutions in advance.

It’s never easy to spend time with someone who always sees the downside. Who typically talks about what is wrong instead of what is right.

But maybe today, you can use a “positive response” and be the catalyst that helps them choose optimism.

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