Most people I meet appreciate the benefits of having a positive outlook on life. They go along with the vast body of research and hearsay that recommends we live and work with hope, self-belief and a healthy degree of optimism. Yet one of the most frequent questions I am asked at the end of my workshops and seminars is “Yes but…how do you sustain it? How do you keep a can-do mindset when you meet real life? In the hum-drum of every day, in the bleak midwinter, in the face of daily grind, disappointments and bad news how can you stay upbeat?”

Fair question. Real question.
I think the short answer is…Practice. Repetition builds habits; we become what we repeatedly do, say and think. Our challenge then, is to find positive mental habits and behaviours that can serve us every day in ways which are enjoyable, edifying and easy to do.

Here’s the theory: what we focus on expands, we tend to get what we expect and the brain likes nothing more than stretching itself to find solutions to challenges and ways of bringing repeatedly imagined pictures to life. The critical work is to decide on what we really want [as we are likely to get it] and to be sure that our aims are ambitious and enthralling enough [if we get too comfortable we can fall asleep at the wheel].

Once our goals are sure, the task is to keep reminding ourselves, advertising how we wish to live, to the power of our sub-conscious.
Over the past ten years I have experimented with a collection of tactics for keeping a tiger in your tank. Some have been fun for a while, some have felt a bit gimmicky and others have proved excellent as life-enhancing, true-focus tools.

The more novel ones tend to create a special energy in stirring people out of over-familiar, blunting routines yet, as they say, the older ones are sometimes the best. No one size fits all and so much depends on where you are on your wheel of life and what particularly toasts your teacake!

Starting is the thing. For livening up your life at work and beyond in 2008 have a go with some of these; my own favourites and those best-rated by my clients…8 for 08:1. Collage
Set aside a couple of hours, gather up your family or team and a mound of photos - recent and distant past - glossy magazines, newspapers, brochures etc along with scissors and glue. Share your desires for 2008, negotiate your goals and build a graphic depiction of the future highlights of the year. Frame it and hang it where you will see it every day, e.g. above the breakfast table or at a popular gathering point at work.This device produces amazing results. The discussion and picture choice sharpens focus and the group vetting process encourages a collective responsibility as well as an alignment of targets. After a few years of doing this you will have a striking gallery recording your past aspirations and a reminder of how you achieved them.

2. Goals Card
Think of the real priorities in your life, e.g. family, relationships, health, social life, career, learning, home, holidays, sport, etc. Set yourself a motivating and testing target for each one.

Write them down on a card that will fit in your wallet or purse. Sign and date the card. Put it in the section where your receipts go. That way you can automatically be repeatedly reminded of your goals through the year, for instance each time you sort through receipts for your expenses.

3. Positive Lexicon
Listen hard to the words and suggestions used all round you and the words you use.
Notice the number of drainers and candle-snuffing words that are used, quietly undermining confidence and enthusiasm.

Replace your own drainers with boosters…in daily speech, in greeting people, in giving feedback, in e-mails, in your mobile phone voicemail tag.

Whilst I don’t wish to put words in your mouth here are some examples of what I mean:

“I mustn’t be late” becomes “I’ll be on time.”
“I mustn’t forget” becomes “I’ll remember.”
“I’m sorry I’m afraid I can’t take your call right now.” becomes “Thank you for calling.”
“No problem” becomes “Certainly.”
“Don’t hesitate to contact me” becomes “Feel free to contact me.”
“Not bad, not too bad, too early to tell, fair to middling, mustn’t grumble, soldiering on, bearing up, above ground” etc., becomes “Very well, excellent, marvellous, great, brilliant, fantastic”…or as high as you want to take it or be sincere with.

If this seems cosmetic to you, give it a go anyway. You will instantly see the power of choosing words deliberately with positive outcomes in mind. As a quick guide, be sure to:

Focus on what you can do, what is good…not on what you can’t do, or what is negative.

Be honest, authentic, sincere…otherwise you’re just being a spin doctor!

Use language that is congruent with you…as opposed to cheesy hype!

Notice the buzz or more subtle uplift you give others when you pay sound compliments, greet them cheerfully and seed positives into your conversation.

4. Last Thought Best Thought
Our last predominant thoughts before sleep tend to travel through the night with us. This seems pretty cut and dried. Horror films, impending exams, long awaited holidays, anticipated crack-of-dawn flights are familiar examples. Knowing this, use the moments before sleep to install healthy, positive, life-enhancing thoughts into your sub-conscious.

Close your day with a few moments of nourishing self-programming. Inspiring biographies, autobiographies and anthologies of poetry are rich sources of bedtime brain food. Always finishing the day on a happy thought is an excellent habit to instil in children, whether that be via a story, a wholesome bedtime book or simply a reminder of great days coming or simple whispers of love.

However you do it, close well.

5. Mottoes, Mantras and Memorable Lines
What do you say to yourself seemingly automatically when unwanted, unexpected things happen? This place of default can be positive and resourceful if you programme it to be so. Find a motto or a mantra that you can identify with that can spur you on. Repeat it frequently so it becomes your own, integral to your thinking.

Alternatively compile a bank of quotes or memorable lines to routinely share with your team or loved ones, or to use personally, for instance as a screensaver, e.g:

• “If you think you can do a thing or that you can’t, you’re probably right.” Henry Ford.
• “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi.
• “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” Chinese proverb.
• “By the time you’re 50 you have the face you deserve.” George Orwell.
• “If your boat doesn’t come in, swim out to it.”
• “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat!”
• “When you’re going through hell, keep going!” Einstein.
• “All things are ready if our minds be so.” Shakespeare.

6. Make Room for The Future
Create space and anticipation for the future with a proper clear out. Take six dustbin liners. Go through your home and fill them up…with clothes for the charity shop and things that are of no use to you now…the instructions for a kettle two kettles ago, magazines you won’t read again, used batteries.

Clutter can be comforting but it can also be the weighty load of the past. After a refreshing purge you are likely to be psychologically primed to step into tomorrow feeling unfettered.

7. Auspicious Beginnings
Start each day with an attitude of gratitude. So many sports coaches encourage their players to get their first serve in, make the first tackle count or ensure their first touch or strike of the ball is solid and clean. How we start things sets a tone, induces a state, primes us for performance. Be sure to plan the start of your meetings, presentations and briefings - be they formal or informal.

Furthermore, commit to making the first phone call, e-mail or even hand-written note you make, a message of thanks to one person for one good thing they did the previous day.

That sets both you and them up for a zestful start and gets you into the habit of catching people doing things well.

8. The Golden Key
Turn your front door key into a physical symbol of how precious your home life is.

Polish it up so that it glistens like a jewel on your key ring and as such urges you into an uplifting spirit as you return to your loved ones after a day at work.

Which partner or child wants to see a grumpy face come through the door at the start of an evening? Use the golden key to trigger positive energy on your arrival home so you can be the best version of yourself for the people who matter most.

So, whatever you do with these ideas, if you want some change or even better results in 2008, commit to doing some new things. Grow some new habits to induce new states of resourcefulness and confidence. Keep in the company of people who constructively nourish you, stretch and test you but ultimately believe you can… and test the theory for yourself….if your mind is predominantly,
habitually focused on the positive things you want, it has hardly a moment to waste on worries, doubts and speculations that so often turn out to be needless.

Wishing you a 2008 of strong personal prophesies which you enjoy fulfilling!

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Marcus Child has had a remarkable and uplifting impact on the people and the results of many well-known businesses during the past twelve years.

His commitment to individual and organisational development began with a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, awarded with distinction at Cambridge University.

He now specialises in enabling corporate change through people and has an impressive reputation for helping people in management and service embrace change positively and successfully.

Through novel and participative workshops which engage head, heart and hand, his work nurtures and invigorates resourcefulness in individuals, positivity between colleagues and trust between organisations and their customers.

Marcus emphasis on people exploiting the workplace as an environment for self-improvement as well as commercial success means that the new habits he trains are practised in the minds and relationships of people - within and without work - long after his programmes are complete.

He regularly speaks on conference platforms and has advised politicians, sportspeople and CEOs in the U.K

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