Opinion: 5 tips for keeping a positive attitude this year

It feels incredibly cliche to say the past few years have been challenging. Dealing with the pandemic, recession fears, political divides and life’s pressures can produce much anxiety and unhappiness for people.

Keeping a positive attitude today isn’t easy. Sometimes, we need someone or something to point out our lousy attitude to give us a fresh perspective. Let me tell you about something that happened to me.

The vice president of a company that’s a client called me and, although I was having a difficult day, I thought I had managed to remain upbeat. I attempted to cover it with small talk, but he could tell something was off. “You don’t seem very enthusiastic about talking to me today,” he said.

I jumped to my feet with a jolt of energy and to explain myself, I attempted to use my busy schedule and fatigue from traveling as an excuse. But my tone and attitude couldn’t be denied – he could hear it in my voice. In hindsight, I should have resisted focusing on work difficulties and been in the right mindset before taking his call.

You can have a bad day once in a while. It’s only natural for us to think negatively sometimes. That’s true, but someone whose mind endlessly looks for evidence to feed a negative narrative tends to constantly share that negativity with everyone. Thus, it potentially spreads negativity and damages morale for themselves and others.

Fortunately, every day, we get to choose our attitude – and that’s something negativists can lose sight of.

Here are five tips on how to stay positive during trying times in 2023.

1. Focus on what you can do. Sometimes we can become overwhelmed by things we cannot control. A positive person refuses to get discouraged when life throws situations their way that is out of their control. Instead of worrying about things you cannot control, focus on what you can.
2. Ramp up your resilience. Restaurant entrepreneur Truett Cathy looked below the burning embers of his first restaurant for an opportunity to reimagine his business. That’s when his concept for the iconic Chick-fil-A brand was born. Resilience equips you to bounce back from setbacks and keep going despite challenges. Resilient people believe that something better is around the corner and work toward their goals no matter how tough things get.
3. Keep a positive outlook when external forces are challenging. My mother was a powerful positive force for me. I rarely heard her speak an ill word about anyone or anything. She refused to get bogged down by criticism or negativity; instead, she looked at circumstances through her lens of faith, and she found the good and the positive. People with an encouraging outlook find ways of staying buoyant even when faced with difficult circumstances, inspiring those around them by simply choosing positivity over negativity.
4. Put the negatives in perspective. We’ve all known someone who faced job, economic or health challenges but had the strength to persevere, continuing to believe that something better was ahead. It’s inspiring to see their outlook on life during such adversity. It reminds me of a hotel’s outdoor sign I saw on vacation: “Count your blessings, recount if necessary.” Make a list of things to be grateful for and think on them repeatedly; while you do, put the negatives in perspective.
5. Manage what you allow to influence your thinking. I’ve witnessed numerous times how just one person’s chronic negativity disrupted the harmony and damaged the results of an entire team. A bad attitude can spread quickly. It can wreak havoc on morale. If you’re around constant negativity, don’t be a receptive listener. Bring it to the person’s attention. Try highlighting the positives or changing the topic.

We all face difficult circumstances and moments we cannot change, but our attitude is one thing we can control. When we notice our negativity or someone points it out, we must reject an attitude of discouragement and replace it with a positive one. A positive attitude can help us overcome tough times, see the good in people and situations, and be more resilient.

Consultant, professional speaker and author Mark Holmes is president of Springfield-based Consultant Board Inc. and MarkHolmesGroup.com. He can be reached at mark@markholmesgroup.com.