Extra shot to boost our personality

People who are blessed with the quality to energize their thought process with mammoth degree of positivism are sure enough to achieve the success in all fronts in professional and social life. They are classified as people with a positive frame of mind and do not get provoked and indulge in any sort of mental block. They are also like many others; but only difference is that they do not delve much on their weaknesses and do not blame their luck for any failures. They consider the failures as a stepping stone which shows them the path of success. This is one side of the coin. The opposite side is also prevalent. That means there are people who always focus attention to their past mistakes, murmur, curse the environment and situations for failures. These thoughts make their minds distract from positivism and abundance of failures will always rattle their inner self.

You have to remember that you are always better than what you are. You have to have full trust on your ability and intelligence. Your body is like one of the highly acclaimed machines and your brain deserves to be a critical asset. You can definitely accept the challenges of the surroundings with all these combinations. To make these all happen, a personality trait which is a very important factor for anybody, to amplify - is known as attitude. This attitude helps you to induce the power of thinking in a very positive way and this eight letters word can create a magic wind for you. As per Winston Churchill, “An attitude is a small ingredient, but makes a lot of difference in one’s life.”

Provocating Power of thoughts:

Any action is a reflection of thought process which is guided by a positive or a negative thought. You will become a successful person, when you are influenced by lifting up your thoughts. The research data shows that the working pattern of your body and your thoughts have interconnection. If you are endowed with a positive frame of mind and thoughts, you will be able to lift your spirit. Contrarily, if your mind is always hovered with the thoughts of failures, surely you would encounter the same only. In my professional life, I come across different types of personalities and I have the privilege to segregate the intellectual lot with haughty nature, and ample money power versus the lot with less materialistic power, but with intensive positive attitudinal perch of mind. And, to the best of the best of my knowledge, I opine that the second lot makes history and always smile in their lives beatifically.

You take the instance of the environment either of office or work, all your acts will be governed by thoughts. Depending on the gravity of your acts for any assignment, you will be able to judge your performance. The level of performance will enhance when the acts will be influenced by a positive attitude. You will be able to raise the output beyond the expected level because of the constructive behavior and so consequence of the results therefore, will be always positive.

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The success is not a derivative of any lose efforts. It is a structural and a continuous process of development of various skills and knowledge and when bestowed with positive thoughts, right actions are guaranteed to happen. So, for exuberation in life, fill up your mind with positive, productive and enriching thoughts. This will ensure you for a noticeable difference in your attitude towards the life.

Sole searching:

Many a time, in your life, you feel yourself less enthusiastic and ponder on anxieties caused due to various perceptions which may or may not have any relationship with your career, social life or materialistic despondency. But, such behavior is quite radical. Because, even otherwise your brilliancy is undoubtedly beyond questionable, the negative thoughts may crop up in your mind just because of above situations. Whatever the positive frame of mind you possess, negative thoughts as stated above, will destroy the energy of your inner self and you will be under shackles of despair. Please remember that nothing is achievable easily and so you have to toil excessively and endlessly to earn other people’s support services, their co-operation and good wishes

This is just a guide line, but to energize your inner self with the power of positive thought, you have to continuously introspect till the time; you recognize the truth of its importance.

Build up yourself:

A normal person of average caliber, even otherwise possesses several abilities which are up to the mark with respect to any prevailing standard may require to invest for his overall growth.You have to continuously upgrade your skills, knowledge, and keenness to float in the corporate jungle. Always concentrate on the job which you like and know more about the same. This keenness will only bring more color to your life and your career graph will up rise.

Plan, follow and improve:

If your planning is perfect and accurate, the accomplishment of a job will be far above than the expected result. To do this, you have to be extremely effective to master the techniques of the job. You have to have enough skills to undertake the job. The role of planning, in this case, is a very important thing. If the planning is foolproof, the results cannot be haywire. A person, who does not recognize the importance of the planning, will be radar less and cannot reach to a desired destination. Here comes the perspective of the attitude. Without this personality trait, it is extremely difficult to achieve any success in the life. The success is like a war which is full of mirth and despondency. If your planning is strong enough and devised with scientific approaches, then the success cannot delude you.

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It is very essential to dwell on the strengths in stead of the weaknesses. No one should sulk on what they do not have, rather a concentration of the entire focus is to be put forward what we have. The celebrities from all round the corner never brood in their limitations as their attitudinal behavior will always guide them to the path of positive thinking. And this character alone will be benevolent for their success in their lives. Always keep an attitude to constantly upgrade yourself because there is no substitute for the same. By indulging for self development, you will be in a position to improve upon your performance in any field. No sooner, you will show complacent, downfall will start and you will not be in a position to filter further.

Attitude:

This can be spelt as follows:

A = Attribute à to be positive.

T = Try à to change if the attitude is negative

T = Total control à to negate your negative thoughts.

I = Instinct à to use to visualize the positive, even in adversity.

T = Think à to start every thing with positive and constructive approach.

U = Understand à all your inherent strengths.

D = Develop à your conscious to achieve the best.

E = Energize à your inner self to influence outer self to be always positive.

You have to remember that in a professional as well as social environment, your attitude will affect other people and what they think of you. In today’s competitive working environment, when you have to work in a team, your attitude is one of the main criteria for your success.Without a balanced attitude, it will be tricky for you to overcome the obstacles which are developed off and on. So, thoughts are to be sensitized and to be added with fantasies to eradicate the negative emotions. By practicing this hypothesis, gradually, mind will be energized to pursue the positive aspect of the thoughts. This will, in turn, become a habit and transform to the attitude.

Attitudinal behavior and its impact on career:

This personality trait is very important determinant, at the start of your professional career, because when you appear for interview, the interviewers gauze subtly your this quality.Because, they know that they can train you to their job requirement, but it is extremely difficult for them to change your attitude.

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You will be able to conquer any obstacles, if you have a positive attitude. This positive attitude will be able to blossom your inherent quality to focus your attention to the brighter side of any things.

In my professional career of marketing, as a departmental head since long, I always encourage on coaching of my people to take out the best possible output from them. I have noticed that if a person has a positive attitude and the ability of “can do confidence,” he will, by and large, achieve the success even he is weak in some sphere of the knowledge. On the contrary, may be, some people are very brilliant but totally engrossed with a negative attitude, they are the maximum sufferers. In today’s global competitive arena, the companies are always in search of the people, who show the immense power of positive attitude in all spheres.

Mostly, all the companies are now conducting psychometric analytical tests to measure the candidate’s attitude and then conclude about the potentiality of the success of a candidate.Individually, they are capable to exhibit tremendous performance when they are blessed with the positive frame of mind. You have to become a master of the mind but not its slave. By doing this, you will be able to control your mind and will be in a position to always concentrate on positive things of the surroundings.

Keep away from negative:

The life is completely full of mysteries of successes and failures. Everyone has to face this naked truth. Failures doom the strengths of a person and develop negative consequences. Whatever they see, it will be full of darkness. The famous couplet of “Genesis” of the Bible says that during the creation of the universe, the first thing, God said “Let there be a light” because the total universe was under the clutch of the darkness. God never said, “Let there be darkness.” In the similar way, in our day to day life, we have to always encounter the darkness with a light. If you are calm and quiet, and maintain a positive frame of mind even in your disastrous state of your life, a habit of positiveness will grow which will enable you to think always to see the brighter side of the life only. I would like to put forward a classic example of positive attitude which many of us know very well. Mr. Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, the eminent scholar, was summoned one day by her mother to meet. When he reached to the river Damodar during late evening, he could not find any boat because of heavy tidal conditions. But he had made up his mind to meet her mother by hook or by crook and so, he ignored the fanatic condition of the river. He swam and reached to his house late night to touch the feet of her mother. What a positive attitude he showed! This example glorifies, how to steer away the darkness and the negativity of the life.

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Attitude V/s Success:

An attitude and a success, both are hand in gloves. The success is directly proportional to the positive attitude. You can never dream a success without a positive attitude. “I can do” attitude only can plan your actions into reality and results. Please keep in mind that any success is not easily achievable. Mind boggling efforts, pain-staking work, eradication of negative thoughts, and tremendous perseverance are required to feel the stepping stone of success. In your this endeavor, you will come across resources crunch, negative criticism from peers and friends, hurdles of circumstances but keep your all positive thoughts intact for your motivation to perform the best and success will be guaranteed.

There is no magic wind for the success. It comes to you automatically, if you exert your best efforts whole heartedly with brimming confidence of mind. When you engage yourself in any purposeful action, maximize your potentialities, concentrate and focus all your attentions to the actions with constructive and positive thoughts, you will always find your missions completed.

As a marketing coach in my present employment, I impart training to the young engineers for their career upbringing. To make them aware of the fundamental principles of the products development vis-à-vis marketing operations, I profusely teach them the importance of the attitude. During the initial six months of probation training, I ensure them to concentrate on positive thoughts, or else I make them understand that they will face enormous problems in achieving their career goals.

Further, many people think that positive thoughts are the domain of some particular persons.But, it is not correct. Even, if you are average qualified, have mediocre brain, and aged, you can always learn and practice the power of positive thoughts. To maintain the thought process in a positive direction, you need not be over qualified or have super brain power. It is only a matter of habit that how you shut the door of your mind and prevent the entry of any negative thoughts.

Mental Stress Management:

Mental Stress Management:

Sometimes we are not able to change our environment to manage stress – this may be the case where we do not have the power to change a situation, or where we are about to give an important performance. Imagery is a useful skill for relaxing in these situations.

Imagery is a potent method of stress reduction, especially when combined with physical relaxation methods such as deep breathing.

You will be aware of how particular environments can be very relaxing, while others can be intensely stressful. The principle behind the use of imagery in stress reduction is that you can use your imagination to recreate and enjoy a situation that is very relaxing. The more intensely you imagine the situation, the more relaxing the experience will be.

This sounds unlikely. In fact, the effectiveness of imagery can be shown very effectively if you have access to biofeedback equipment. By imagining a pleasant and relaxing scene (which reduces stress) you can objectively see the measured stress in your body reduce. By imagining an unpleasant and stressful situation, you can see the stress in your body increase. This very real effect can be quite alarming when you see it happen the first time!

How to Use the Tool:

Two situations where imagery can be very effective are when you're trying to relax and when you're preparing or rehearsing for a performance.

Imagery in Relaxation:

One common use of imagery in relaxation is to imagine a scene, place or event that you remember as safe, peaceful, restful, beautiful and happy. You can bring all your senses into the image with, for example, sounds of running water and birds, the smell of cut grass, the taste of cool white wine, the warmth of the sun, etc. Use the imagined place as a retreat from stress and pressure.

Scenes can involve complex images such as lying on a beach in a deserted cove. You may “see” cliffs, sea and sand around you, “hear” the waves crashing against rocks, “smell” the salt in the air, and “feel” the warmth of the sun and a gentle breeze on your body. Other images might include looking at a mountain view, swimming in a tropical pool, or whatever you want. You will be able to come up with the most effective images for yourself.

Other uses of imagery in relaxation involve creating mental pictures of stress flowing out of your body, or of stress, distractions and everyday concerns being folded away and locked into a padlocked chest.

Imagery in Preparation and Rehearsal:

You can also use imagery in rehearsal before a big event, allowing you to run through the event in your mind.

Aside from allowing you to rehearse mentally, imagery also allows you to practice in advance for anything unusual that might occur, so that you are prepared and already practiced in handling it. This is a technique used very commonly by top sports people, who learn good performance habits by repeatedly rehearsing performances in their imagination. When the unusual eventualities they have rehearsed using imagery occur, they have good, pre-prepared, habitual responses to them.

Imagery also allows you to pre-experience achievement of your goals, helping to give you the self-confidence you need to do something well. This is another technique used by successful athletes.

In short:

With imagery, you substitute actual experience with scenes from your imagination. Your body reacts to these imagined scenes almost as if they were real, calming you down and letting adrenaline disperse.

To relax with imagery, imagine a warm, comfortable, safe and pleasant place, and enjoy it in your imagination.

Imagery can be shown to work by using biofeedback devices that measure body stress. By imagining pleasant and unpleasant scenes, you can actually see or hear the changing levels of stress in your body diminish.

POSITIVE THINKING

Positive Thinking, Built on Firm Foundations

Have you ever felt really stressed about something, only to see the stress vanish when you talk the situation through with a friend?

Quite often, our experience of stress comes from our perception of a situation. Often that perception is right, but sometimes it isn't. Sometimes we are unreasonably harsh with ourselves, or jump to wrong conclusions about people’s motives, and this can send us into a downward spiral of negative thinking.

Thought Awareness, Rational Thinking and Positive Thinking are simple tools that help you to change this negative way of thinking. This page tell us how to use them.

Introduction

The most commonly accepted definition of stress is that it occurs when a person believes that "demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize". In short, it's when we feel out of control.

When people feel stressed, they have made two main judgments: First, they feel threatened by the situation, and second, they believe that they're not able to meet the threat. How stressed someone feels depends on how much the situation can hurt them, and how closely their resources meet the demands of the situation.

Perception is key to this as (technically!) situations are not stressful in their own right. Rather it is our interpretation of the situation that drives the level of stress that we feel.

Quite obviously, we are sometimes right in what we say to ourselves. Some situations may actually be dangerous, may threaten us physically, socially or in our career. Here, stress and emotion are part of the early warning system that alerts us to a threat.

Very often, however, we are overly harsh and unjust to ourselves in a way that we would never be with friends or co-workers. This, along with other negative thinking, can cause intense stress and unhappiness and can severely undermine our self-confidence.

Using the Tool:
Thought Awareness

You are thinking negatively when you fear the future, put yourself down, criticize yourself for errors, doubt your abilities, or expect failure. Negative thinking damages confidence, harms performance and paralyzes mental skills.

Unfortunately, negative thoughts tend to flit into our consciousness, do their damage and flit back out again, with their significance having barely been noticed. Since we barely realise that they were there, we do not challenge them properly, which means that they can be completely incorrect and wrong.

Thought Awareness is the process by which you observe your thoughts and become aware of what is going through your head.

One approach to it is to observe your "stream of consciousness" as you think about the thing you're trying to achieve which is stressful. Do not suppress any thoughts. Instead, just let them run their course while you watch them, and write them down on our free worksheet as they occur. Then let them go.

Another more general approach to Thought Awareness comes with logging stress in your Stress Diary. When you analyze your diary at the end of the period, you should be able to see the most common and the most damaging thoughts. Tackle these as a priority using the techniques below.

Here are some typical negative thoughts you might experience when preparing to give a major presentation:

• Fear about the quality of your performance or of problems that may interfere with it.
• Worry about how the audience (especially important people in it like your boss) or the press may react to you.
• Dwelling on the negative consequences of a poor performance.
• Self-criticism over a less-than-perfect rehearsal.

Thought awareness is the first step in the process of managing negative thoughts, as you cannot manage thoughts that you are unaware of.

Rational Thinking

The next step in dealing with negative thinking is to challenge the negative thoughts that you identified using the Thought Awareness technique. Look at every thought you wrote down and challenge it rationally. Ask yourself whether the thought is reasonable. What evidence is there for and against the thought? Would your colleagues and mentors agree or disagree with it?

Looking at the examples, the following challenges could be made to the negative thoughts we identified earlier:

• Feelings of inadequacy: Have you trained yourself as well as you reasonably should have? Do you have the experience and resources you need to make the presentation? Have you planned, prepared and rehearsed enough? If you have done all of these, you've done as much as you can to give a good performance.
• Worries about performance during rehearsal: If some of your practice was less than perfect, then remind yourself that the purpose of the practice is to identify areas for improvement, so that these can be sorted out before the performance.
• Problems with issues outside your control: Have you identified the risks of these things happening, and have you taken steps to reduce the likelihood of them happening or their impact if they do? What will you do if they occur? And what do you need others to do for you?
• Worry about other people's reactions: If you have prepared well, and you do the best you can, then you should be satisfied. If you perform as well as you reasonably can, then fair people are likely to respond well. If people are not fair, the best thing to do is ignore their comments and rise above them.

Tip:
Don't make the mistake of generalizing a single incident. OK, you made a mistake at work, but that doesn't mean you're bad at your job.

Similarly, make sure you take the long view about incidents that you're finding stressful. Just because you're finding these new responsibilities stressful now, doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS be so for you in the future.

Write your rational response to each negative thought in the Rational Thought column on the worksheet.

Tip:
If you find it difficult to look at your negative thoughts objectively, imagine that you are your best friend or a respected coach or mentor. Look at the list of negative thoughts and imagine the negative thoughts were written by someone you were giving objective advice to. Then, think how you would challenge these thoughts.

When you challenge negative thoughts rationally, you should be able to see quickly whether the thoughts are wrong or whether they have some substance to them. Where there is some substance, take appropriate action. However, make sure that your negative thoughts are genuinely important to achieving your goals, and don't just reflect a lack of experience, which everyone has to go through at some stage.

Positive Thinking & Opportunity Seeking

By now, you should already be feeling more positive. The final step is to prepare rational, positive thoughts and affirmations to counter any remaining negativity. It can also be useful to look at the situation and see if there are any useful opportunities that are offered by it.

By basing your affirmations on the clear, rational assessments of facts that you made using Rational Thinking, you can use them to undo the damage that negative thinking may have done to your self-confidence.

Tip:
Your affirmations will be strongest if they are specific, are expressed in the present tense and have strong emotional content.

Continuing the examples above, positive affirmations might be:

• Problems during practice: "I have learned from my rehearsals. This has put me in a position where I can deliver a great performance. I am going to perform well and enjoy the event."
• Worries about performance: "I have prepared well and rehearsed thoroughly. I am well positioned to give an excellent performance."
• Problems issues outside your control: "I have thought through everything that might reasonably happen and have planned how I can handle all likely contingencies. I am very well placed to react flexibly to events."
• Worry about other people's reaction: "Fair people will react well to a good performance. I will rise above any unfair criticism in a mature and professional way."

If appropriate, write these affirmations down on your worksheet so that you can use them when you need them.

As well as allowing you to structure useful affirmations, part of Positive Thinking is to look at opportunities that the situation might offer to you. In the examples above, successfully overcoming the situations causing the original negative thinking will open up opportunities. You will acquire new skills, you will be seen as someone who can handle difficult challenges, and you may open up new career opportunities.

Make sure that identifying these opportunities and focusing on them is part of your positive thinking.

Summary:

This set of tools helps you to manage and counter the stress of negative thinking.

Thought Awareness helps you to understand the negative thinking, unpleasant memories and misinterpretation of situations that may interfere with your performance and damage your self-confidence.

Rational Thinking helps you to challenge these negative thoughts, and either learn from them, or refute them as incorrect.

Positive thinking is then used to create positive affirmations that you can use to counter negative thoughts. These affirmations neutralize negative thoughts and help to build your self-confidence. It is also used to find the opportunities that are often present, to some degree, in a difficult situation