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Accentuate the POSITIVE

By Joan Grobb Augustino

How to Live Longer and Healthier Lives with Positive Attitudes

Joan Grobb Augustino

(Editor's note: CFPSA has five core values, “positive attitude” being one of them. For this edition of Apropos, we asked Joan Grobb Augustino, personality expert, Certified Career Facilitator, and specialist in “attitude at work”, to write on this subject. Joan invites your comments and questions on what she has to say.)

We've all heard the expression, “your attitude determines your altitude”.

I asked my brother-in-law, a retired Captain from the Canadian Air Force, and he explained that when the nose attitude of the airplane is facing upwards, the plane ascends to a higher altitude. If the nose attitude is downwards, the plane starts to descend. Thus, the attitude determines the altitude in an airplane -- or in life!

So why don't all of us choose to fly higher and keep a positive attitude? Here are four of the most common reasons:

  1. It's not worth it. (You've got a good thing going.)
    Being helpless is working for you. People feel sorry for you, sympathize with you, help solve your problems, or do your work for you. Warning: this is a temporary measure.

  2. Imminent danger. (Flight, fight or freeze.)
    External factors are forced upon you so that you may be in actual physical, emotional or psychological danger. Fear sends all sorts of signals to your body, physically and emotionally. Your body responds by releasing powerful chemicals into your system that give you the physical boost you need to FIGHT, or TAKE FLIGHT, and survive! It's hard, but assuming a positive attitude can help you through when the going gets rough.

  3. You think you can't. (What you believe, you will achieve.)
    What you say, think, and believe about yourself and your life is demonstrated in your words, your actions and your behaviours -- and people will BELIEVE what you say about yourself. The more negative and self-defeating your attitude, the more people will reinforce that you aren't capable or worthy of anything better. The challenge? Change your thinking.

  4. You don't know how. (Get to know positive.)
    Negative is the only mode you know. You're surrounded by it and you're not even sure what a great attitude is. Here's a chance to learn.

Climbing over these four stumbling blocks is a matter of choice. You can learn how to start each day with a positive attitude by using a couple easy steps.

Name It:
Name the negative thought, emotion or circumstance by writing it down.

Claim It:
Own your responsibility in it and try to see it from another point of view. Remember that your attitude is 100% under your control.

Reframe It:
Try to reframe the negative to see a positive -- even if that positive is learning not to do it again!

Remember that when you stand up and are positive, even in the most trying of circumstances, you give people around you permission to do the same. And here's good news -- a positive attitude is just as infectious as a negative one with a lot more rewards. Research shows that people with positive attitudes live longer and have less illness.

So, live, laugh and choose to have a positive attitude -- just for the health of it!

Copyright Joan Grobb Augustino 2004. All rights reserved.

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