How to turn your Covid blues into post-pandemic positivity

Learn how to reframe your experience of 2020 to make 2021 your best year yet

There’s a saying, “our past always has a way of catching up with us”.

Now, I’d imagine the curator of such a phrase was referring to wrongdoing and karma. But, in positive psychology, the phrase is ever so true, just in a slightly different way.

That’s because the things that have happened to us previously in life form the very substance of our perceptions and behaviours in the present.

Negative then, negative now

Negative past experiences and the associated negative feelings breed negativity in our present and manipulate the way we experience things that happen now. By the same measure, if we have enjoyed many positive events in our pasts, we are more likely to interpret the things that happen to us now in a positive light.

The strange reality is that the objective nature of the things that happen in our day-to-day doesn’t really matter so much. But our perceptions of the nature of events do.

Since memories of the past shape the way we experience the present, how we handle those memories makes a huge difference to our daily life, our output and the success of our businesses.

Sweeping cobwebs away

When we “tidy up” those memories, we can be more open to positivity in our current efforts, and take advantage of the plethora of benefits of positivity in business; namely improved staff culture, increased sales numbers and better prospects in our own careers.

But curating genuinely positive feelings about the past is not easy and requires effort. Every individual has their own stories and experiences; some more traumatic and potentially more damaging than others.

But there are two interventions, or “techniques” from positive psychology, that have often seen success. The exercises of forgiveness and gratitude can each add value at home and in the corporate setting.

When you can genuinely forgive and focus on gratitude for the perhaps unexpected benefits of a negative experience, you are more able to get out from underneath it. And the secret to moving forward using these techniques is to reframe those events so that they deliver real positivity now.

How to make the change

So how can you practise these techniques and turn the bad into good?

1. Think of a past event and ask yourself, “How can I think about this differently?” to focus on the benefits that might have come out of it (you might have to work hard to find them!)

2. Look for positive aspects of the narrative every time you tell a story about your past to others. For example, when you talk about a traumatic business challenge, focus on the fact that you overcame it and what you learnt in the process.

3. Prime yourself for positivity by choosing more positive language when talking about those experiences. 

Is Covid really wholly negative?

In terms of Covid, that means talking about the opportunity that 2020 presented, rather than the “challenge” or the “setback”. It’s about focusing on the togetherness of your team, even when you weren’t working in the same office. You should be celebrating that your business is where it is now, rather than mourning where it could have been had Covid not happened.

Reframe your experiences, focus on the good and change the way you think and talk about it, and you’ll lead your business towards a better future.