Glass half-full people do better
If you had a choice, would you prefer to hang around a person who tends to look at things as though the glass is half-full or someone who tends to look at things as though the glass is half-empty? I'd venture to say it's the former. Spending any amount of time with glass half-empty folks is not exactly what I'd consider fabulous fun.
People naturally gravitate towards books, thoughts, ideas, and people who are uplifting, inspiring, offer hope, and solutions. Look at all the self-help books out there dishing out solutions to people's woes. Show me a best-selling business book that does nothing but point out the problems and offers no solutions. Clearly, it doesn't take a genius to point out the problems in our every day lives and at work. The genius is in coming up with the solutions.
Typically, one would find that the leaders at work are those who lean towards optimism than pessimism. After all, you need some dreamers to imagine new products, ideas, growth plans, and solutions to tough problems and navigating out of tricky situations. Imagine if everyone in a firm only shoots down new ideas by saying why they can't work and cannot see any thing good out of a sticky situation, well, then defeatism is all you'd get. A true leader finds the silver lining and figures out a way to get out of any rut.
Some time ago at a party, I met a single person in his 30s that lamented how it was difficult for him to meet "good" girls. I probed him for greater clarification on what "good" meant. He answered by telling me the different "bad" girls he had encountered...some were gold-diggers, some were out of shape/unfit, others were annoying, and the list went on. The conversation was draining, to say the least. His intent was for me to introduce him to "good" girls, but I didn't feel compelled to assist. Had he told me something more specific and positive, such as "I'd like to meet a girl who as athletic, has good moral values, an easy-going person, and fits my personality which is [XYZ positive and interesting things]", I would have been more motivated to assist. I can then visualize him with a single female friend I might know. The negative conversation he started down the path of did not help generate a solution for him. My head was swirling with these nasty girls and this miserable guy. Not fun imagery!
I do believe that people who consistently view the world as glass half-full and communicate in that fashion live fuller, happier lives, and do better in their careers too.
People naturally gravitate towards books, thoughts, ideas, and people who are uplifting, inspiring, offer hope, and solutions. Look at all the self-help books out there dishing out solutions to people's woes. Show me a best-selling business book that does nothing but point out the problems and offers no solutions. Clearly, it doesn't take a genius to point out the problems in our every day lives and at work. The genius is in coming up with the solutions.
Typically, one would find that the leaders at work are those who lean towards optimism than pessimism. After all, you need some dreamers to imagine new products, ideas, growth plans, and solutions to tough problems and navigating out of tricky situations. Imagine if everyone in a firm only shoots down new ideas by saying why they can't work and cannot see any thing good out of a sticky situation, well, then defeatism is all you'd get. A true leader finds the silver lining and figures out a way to get out of any rut.
Some time ago at a party, I met a single person in his 30s that lamented how it was difficult for him to meet "good" girls. I probed him for greater clarification on what "good" meant. He answered by telling me the different "bad" girls he had encountered...some were gold-diggers, some were out of shape/unfit, others were annoying, and the list went on. The conversation was draining, to say the least. His intent was for me to introduce him to "good" girls, but I didn't feel compelled to assist. Had he told me something more specific and positive, such as "I'd like to meet a girl who as athletic, has good moral values, an easy-going person, and fits my personality which is [XYZ positive and interesting things]", I would have been more motivated to assist. I can then visualize him with a single female friend I might know. The negative conversation he started down the path of did not help generate a solution for him. My head was swirling with these nasty girls and this miserable guy. Not fun imagery!
I do believe that people who consistently view the world as glass half-full and communicate in that fashion live fuller, happier lives, and do better in their careers too.
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