Professional Positivity

The past, the present, and the future.

The truth about our lives is that things are not always going to happen the way we planned them. Mistakes and errors will come, and they'll try to put us down, but we must always rise again. Staying in our pain or shame doesn't change a thing. Our past glory might give us a temporary relief, but the real deal lies in what we do at the moment. We live in a competitive world where mistakes are easily highlighted. When this happens, we end up being under immense pressure to give up. We mustn't give up. Rather, we should learn to accept pressure and see it as a stepping stone.

There's no limit to what we can achieve as long as we set our minds to it. The most outstanding leaders in the world are those who know when to take charge and when to step back. We must learn to lead ourselves and influence our lives positively. It's what it takes.

Current performance vs previous results.

Sports is like every other business out there. Sports teams are no different from corporate organizations, except that the environment is more intense. In sports, the best earn promotion, and those who can't maintain the standard are let go. We either win or we get fired.

Neutral thinking is a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially during crises and when we are under immense pressure. It's a real mental strategy that acknowledges that the past is irrevocable and unchangeable with mantras or morals. Neutral thinking shuns all attempts at illusion or outright self-delusion, which are often the foundation of other motivational systems. It takes away our biases and faces us with reality. Wilson overlooked his past achievements before that game. He knew that whatever he had achieved did not influence the day's game. He saw himself, not as a star but as a neutral person, and he was able to pull through.

We all suffer from many biases. We suffer from confirmation bias, selection bias, negativity bias, gender bias, optimism bias, etc. These biases are normal, but they are also dangerous. The most dangerous bias we face is our innate privilege of the past. We elevate the past and give it too much importance. Our lives are divided into three distinct states: what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen.

Our past isn't predictive, and neither does it begin a new chapter for us. The earlier we absorb and embrace this belief, the better for us.

Any worthwhile thing requires a strategy

When we plan, we identify an end goal and then chart out neutral behaviors to help us reach our goal. This may sound simple, but we can't do it without thinking about the behaviors and benchmarks required to achieve that goal. Choosing not to plan is a negative plan on its own (by choosing not to plan, you're planning your downfall). It means taking unnecessary risks and reckless decisions. We need to map out our route for any big project we want to take on. We need to make a plan that gives us a clear idea of what to do. When planning, it's advisable to start with a simple plan. Through this, we identify our goals.

The next step is a little bit tricky as it may require some trial and error. As we set goals in our lives, we'll need to know ourselves well enough to know which method works best for us. We can either learn through trial and error or employ a professional's services to help us.

We are all aware that our choices ultimately dictate our actions, which in turn influence our consequences. Making poor decisions is the meal that typical people eat. Choice is an enemy. It will tempt and encourage us to make poor decisions. When we remove choice from the equation, we become more conscious of our circumstances, and we are forced to make the only decision available – going ahead.?

Ability to control the things that influence our lives

So much of what we do is dictated by our state of mind and the way we feel. Much of the world seems out of our control, but the fact is we have the power to decide what influences us. When we hear a radio program that doesn't resonate with our reasoning, we can either turn that car radio on or off. We decide which app to download, and we choose which websites to visit and who to save or delete on our phones. We are primarily responsible for our lives, yet we hate to be held accountable.

We must learn to market ourselves the same way we would market our best item. Marketing is one of the most powerful resources businesses have at their disposal. Marketing moves products, and more specifically, great marketers move people, which moves products. Words are tools, and they both predict and perpetuate performance. We can either market ourselves from the outside through what other people tell us or from the inside, which is our internal monologue. Now we might wonder where the real power comes from, the external or the internal? The truth is that it comes from both. But the scope of the influence on us isn't equal. That internal conversation influences all of us more.

Imagery is an essential mental technique that helps us visualize a great future

Imagery is a core element of any mental conditioning program. It has to do with cognitive performances because it programs the mind and the body to respond optimally by recreating information using all the senses. It's what we need to do when we try to shut out the negative things in our lives.

Our brain strengthens our muscle memory by teaching the fibers in our muscles how to move as if we were performing what we imagine. The same thing happens when we imagine a lemon entering our mouth. At this point, our taste buds respond and learn as if they were tasting the lemon. This is real. We all do this. We all can do it better. The best is to do it strategically.

It's important to remember that imagery is different from fantasies. If we can't run fast, visualizing winning Olympic gold in the 200 meters won't help us do it. But in our area of expertise at work or daily, we can always visualize the steps to better outcomes. The key is neutral imagery. Neutral imagery helps us create a picture of what success would look like, so we can make more efforts to get to the top.

Pressure helps us make better decisions when we accept it positively

Whatever we're doing, we always want the opportunity to contribute. We love to be held accountable, to be relevant and emotional. We also love to help others succeed and to succeed ourselves by doing so. To do this, we have to pay attention to our minds, words, behaviors, responses, and thinking. However we do it, it needs to be done.

Besides the obvious physiological requirements, there are interpersonal requirements to function in a diverse, competitive environment. Greatness is available to anyone, including our opponents. The pressure is then on us to snatch it first. This is true on the field, on the court, or in our offices. We may be intimidated by the pressure we feel to perform every day. However, rather than get frustrated, we should embrace the pressure instead. Pressure isn't a burden; it isn't something to be avoided or minimized. If we're under pressure, it means someone cares about what we do, and it means someone relies on us.

The key to managing pressure is by responding properly to that pressure. Those who perform under pressure capture the greatest victories. That's why we should run toward pressure instead of away from it.

Average people become average by doing average things. It takes a specific set of behaviors or lack of them to be average. No one is born that way. People can behave themselves into mediocrity. They also can behave themselves out of it. The right set of behaviors doesn't guarantee wins. Embracing pressure doesn't either.

Avoiding mediocrity is about creating the opportunity to succeed by not ignoring pressure when you know it's a necessary challenge that anyone who achieves must navigate.