Five steps to being positively positive

I met up with a very dear friend of mine who has known me for more than 25 years. It was great to reminisce – and see what we are both up to now. Each of us reminded the other of some funny things we did years ago. The reality is though is that we remain essentially the same – exuberant, optimistic and committed.
My friend said: “Even in those early days of your career you could get a room of people ‘excited’ by your concept. People have always loved your passion!”

One of the reasons for the title of my book ‘I Want What She’s Having’ is because after a speaking engagement some years ago a participant came up to me and said: “I don’t know what you are ‘on’ but I want some of it”.

I’m fortunate to have been given the strength of positivity (according to the Gallup Strengths Finder), but there are still some things I do to ensure I keep myself both energised and grounded.

Five steps to positivity:

1. I never worry about things I cannot impact. For that reason I don’t watch the news or even read newspapers. I learn by getting the information I want in bite size pieces. Like the online news services. There are atrocities on the planet which I can do nothing about. I need to work on making my world a better place.

2. I don’t play the blame game, that is, I take responsibility for what happens. If a misunderstanding takes place (and they will, happen no one is perfect) I will be accountable for it and rectify it. (And I’ve learned that you need to face these things head on – not wait for them to fix themselves as they usually fester and get worse).

3. Hang out with positive people. Happiness breeds happiness.

4. I always do the things I don’t want to do first. I get the uninteresting tasks or have the tough conversations over and done with as soon as possible. Then I can move on to the good stuff without having something hanging over my head.

5. Share the love, if you are positive then others will be too… positivity is infectious.

I remember my husband saying to me years ago, after a particularly challenging few days at work. “Did anyone die? If not then it surely cannot be that bad – move on, don’t cling, deal with it.” Sage advice.

Naomi Simson is the 2008 National Telstra Women’s Business Award winner for Innovation. Naomi was also a finalist for the Australian HR Awards and a finalist for the BRW Most Admired Business Owner Award in 2008. Also in 2008 RedBalloon achieved a 97% Hewitt employee engagement score. One of Australia’s outstanding female entrepreneurs, Naomi regularly entertains as a professional speaker inspiring middle to high-level leaders on employer branding, engagement and reward and recognition. Naomi writes a blog and has written a book sharing the lessons from her first five years.

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