Positivity

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Positivity
Maximising Your Potential
MTL Course Topics
MAXIMISING YOUR
POTENTIAL
Positivity

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Positive ways of thinking and behaving have become
synonymous with self-development and are the trademark
of all those who want to achieve their goals in life. Positivity
means rejecting those things which hold us back and keep
us grounded in the present or the past. Our positive spirit is
the Adventurer in us. It is the part of us that glimpses what
we are capable of. Through learning how to think positively
about our goals, and to act positively in our daily habits, we
attract to ourselves all the means which make our goals
achievable. In this way, positivity has in itself the quality of
magic.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
WHAT IS POSITIVITY?
Positivity is not a Pollyanna-ish rose-coloured view of things
which ignores reality. It is about seeing things as they are
and about making choices in how to perceive, interpret and
respond.
If you can choose between big goals and small ones, choose
big ones;
If you can choose between the best interpretation and the
worst, choose the best;
If you can choose between a good deed and a bad, choose
the good deed;
If you can choose between being happy and being sad,
choose to be happy;
If you can choose between liking and disliking, choose liking;
If you can choose between loving and not loving, choose
loving.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
THE FACES OF POSITIVITY
There are seven faces of positivity:
1. Create A Positive Self-image. A positive self-image is the
image you have of yourself succeeding in your goals.
2. Talk In Terms Of Positive Goals. You cannot achieve a
negatively-defined goal
3. Have Positive Expectations. Whenever you think of the
future, look to experience the very best results.
4. Always Review Positively. A positive review is one which
starts and ends on a high note, remembering what you gain
from each experience.
5. Mix With Positive People. People who think positively
are uplifting, encouraging and fun to be with.
6. Use Positivity To Feel Good. Positive thinking is good
medicine.
7. Get The Positivity Habit. Introduce a note of positive
thinking into everyday habits.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
THE SELF-IMAGE
Maxwell Maltz, one-time cosmetic surgeon turned
psychoanalyst, relates that many clients with facial
disfigurements consulted him to undergo major surgery to
correct something wrong with how they looked. But in
many cases, people felt no better after the treatment than
before.
Maltz concluded that it is the imagined self-image that
determines how we feel about ourselves not the actual
image. We are who we think we are regardless of how we
actually are or how we appear to the rest of the world.
So, if we can choose between a negative self-image and a
positive one, we should choose the positive one that
emphasises our achievements, our successes and our
strengths. As Maltz demonstrated, all lasting change starts
on the inside and works its way out.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
GOLD
"What I am giving you is gold.
Mothers, fathers, managers, bosses, superintendents,
company presidents, everybody, heed this: raise your own
self-esteem to where it belongs and good things will
happen, both for you and others. How do you do that? You
do it through your self-talk. You must think well of yourself.
You must know you're good.
Start by controlling your own self-talk. From here forward, it
is out of place in your life or your business to be devaluative,
belittling, or sarcastic. Such junk has no place in a high-
performance organisation just as it has no place in a high-
performance individual.
What you will do is start looking for ways to boost your
morale with your self-talk. You are going to do it regularly.
You are going to do it every day: morning, noon and night."
(Louis Tice)

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
POSITIVE GOALS
Our brains need images of positive goals to work towards.
They become confused if we even talk in terms of avoiding a
negative goal.
Research into giving up smoking has discovered that one of
the most effective ways to stop smoking is to feed the brain
images of situations when you are not smoking.
Not: I want to stop smoking.
But: I want to enjoy a pleasant evening at the pub, have a
couple of cool drinks, a tasty meal, lively conversation; and
all the time breathe in fresh, clear, pure, uncontaminated
air.
As well as thinking positively, this goal can be turned into a
present-tense affirmation: "I love being in a pub in nice
clean air" or a visualisation: "I can see myself sitting in a pub
with nice clear air."

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS
There have been numerous experiments to confirm the
truth that when you expect the best, you usually get the
best and when you expect the worst, you usually get that
too. This is known as the self-prophesying principle.
Kelly conducted research in colleges to show that, when
some students were told that their new lecturer was "warm
and friendly", and others were told that she was "cold and
aloof", these were the impressions people had after the first
lecture.
So at the start of any new enterprise, or at the start of any
new job, or the start of any new day, we should look
forward with expectations of the very best.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
TURN CRISIS INTO OPPORTUNITY
In 1912, just before the nomination of Teddy Roosevelt as
presidential candidate, it was discovered that no one had
obtained permission to run off all 3 million pictures of
Roosevelt and his running mate, Hiram Johnson. Legal
penalties for the copyright violation could be as much as $3
million. But it was too late to turn back. The printing plates
were ready. Any changes would cost millions.
The chairman of the campaign committee decided to play a
different tack and sent a telegram to the photographer
saying, "Planning to use 3 million copies of the Roosevelt
photo. Great publicity opportunity for you. What will you
pay for us to use the photos?"
"Appreciate the opportunity," replied the photographer.
"Can only pay $250."
The chairman replied, "OK. Deal."

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MTL Course Topics
SALUTATION TO THE DAWN
The following verse reflects positive expectation.
“Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life;
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today well lived makes every
yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation to the dawn.”
(Kalidasa - Indian dramatist)

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MTL Course Topics
POSITIVE REVIEW
If we can be positive at the start of an enterprise, we should
be equally positive at the end.
We often don't look back at all when we reach a milestone
in our progress. We take it for granted that we have made
progress or, worse, dwell on the things that didn't go too
well.
Being critical by picking out the things that we didn't do well
or failed at is the scourge of the perfectionist. We will never
be satisfied and will become discouraged.
There are gems in every situation if we only look hard
enough. So, when we look back we should use positive
phrases and words to emphasise what went well.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
"THIS IS GOOD"
The story is told of an African king who grew up with a
friend who had a very positive outlook on life.
One day when they were both out hunting, the king
accidentally blew his finger off to which the friend replied,
"This is good". Annoyed with this remark, the king
immediately dispatched his friend to jail.
A year later the king was out on another hunting expedition
when he was captured by cannibals. They put him in a pot
and were about to eat him when they noticed his missing
finger. Unable to eat anyone who wasn't whole, they let him
go.
Full of remorse, the king released his friend from jail and
begged him for forgiveness for sending him to jail.
"That's OK," said the friend. "Why?" replied the king. "Well,
if I hadn't been in jail, you’d have had all your fingers. And
I'd have been with you."

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
GIVING POSITIVE FEEDBACK
John had just completed his first game in goal for the school
under-12's. They had lost 4-1.
John's head was as low as it could get on his mud-splattered
jersey.
His Dad met him as he trudged wearily from the goalmouth.
He crouched down so that their two faces met.
"Chin up, John," his Dad said. "You've just finished one of
the toughest games you'll face this year. They're a good side,
one of the best and you managed to put a really good goal
past them."
"But they put four past us!" said John tearfully.
"Great!" said his Dad. "You can learn just how they managed
to get them past you and work out how to plug the gaps in
future. Now you know how to stop them in the replay."
"You think so?" asked John.
"I know so," said his Dad.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
IT'S IN THE WORDS
How we perceive something often depends on the words
we use to describe it.
One organisation that undertook a culture change
programme decided to change the way employees at all
different levels felt about each other. When they started
looking at the way people expressed themselves, they found
people's language littered with hierarchical words, such as
"superiors" for managers and "subordinates" for the staff.
By changing such words to "team-leaders" and "the team", a
start was made to more positive attitudes.
A tough problem is not difficult or depressing, but
"interesting" and "a nut we're going to enjoy cracking". A
setback is not a disaster, failure or catastrophe, but a chance
to learn, an interesting development or a chance to assess.
An obstacle is not a barrier but a challenge.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
IGNITERS & CHLOROFORMS
Igniters are words that make us spark. Chloroforms are
words that deaden the nerve ends.
Examples of Igniters:
That's great!
Good job!
I made a mistake. I'm sorry; can you help me?
Fantastic!
Well done!
Go for it!
Examples of chloroforms:
Yes, but it won't work.
It's all my fault.
Who do you think you are!
How dare you?
If it were any good, someone would have thought of it.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
MIX WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE
Surrounding yourself with people who think positively is
easier said than done, but, given time and a change in
habits, the most negative person can become positive.
Allan Pease recalls how one of his colleagues, Alan, was
conducting a seminar on communication. One student
would make for him during each break and find any excuse
to complain. He would complain about the rain, about his
football team, about how he was being treated by his ex-
wife and so on and on. Alan decided that he would ignore
every single negative comment. He just looked elsewhere,
picked at his lunch or read the newspaper. When however
the odd positive comment cropped up, Alan's face would
light up and he would engage in normal conversation. After
using this technique for a while, the student started to
communicate good-naturedly with Alan while reverting back
to pessimism with everyone else.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Positive people are winners.
The winner is always part of the solution; the loser is always
part of the problem.
The winner always has a plan; the loser always has an
excuse.
The winner says, "Let me do it for you"; the loser says,
"That's not my job.“
The winner says, "Let's give it a go"; the loser says, "What's
in it for me?“
The winner sees an answer for every obstacle; the loser sees
an obstacle in every answer.
The winner says, "It'll be difficult, but it'll work"; the loser
says, "It may work, but it'll be difficult".
It's not true to say that winners are positive and losers are
negative. Positive people are winners and negative people

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
THE ELECTRICITY OF LIFE
Enthusiasm is the common thread that links all positive
people. Gordon Parks called it "the electricity of life" and
Charles Kingsley said that what everyone needed in life was
not comforts but "something to be enthusiastic about".
The composer Mozart has been described as "psychotically
positive". In one letter that he wrote to his wife about the
opening performance of one of his operas, he
enthusiastically described all the positive aspects of the
performance. Only at the end of the letter and by way of
after-thought did he explain that the opera had received no
critical acclaim and the audience had numbered only ten!
"You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. It is the yeast
that makes our hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is
accomplishment, without it there are only alibis." (Henry
Ford)

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
GOOD MEDICINE
Some of the most interesting work on positivity has been in
the area of positivity and health.
One study by Dr George Gallup in the 1960's looked at
people who passed the age of 95. Gallup wanted to find out
what their secret was.
Along with "staying busy" and "eating in small quantities", a
majority of the respondents said that they had something
positive to look forward to, whether this was a trip they
were planning, a task they wanted to complete or people
they wanted to see.
It is as if the body just doesn't want to think unhealthily if it
has valuable goals to achieve and positive things to do.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
POSITIVITY AS PAIN-RELIEF
Emile Coué, the founder of auto-suggestion, recommended
the following positivity technique for dealing with mental or
physical pain.
"Every time during the course of a day that you experience
some suffering, affirm to yourself immediately that you will
get rid of it. Then isolate yourself, close your eyes and laying
your hand on the affected part of the body, or the forehead
if it is a mental problem, repeat these words as quickly as
possible: "It's going away; it's going away; it's going
away"...until the pain goes away. With practice you can get
rid of any kind of pain in about 20 seconds."

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
THE POSITIVITY HABIT
Good habits are as easy to make as are bad habits. If we can
choose to be positive in our daily routines, then we might as
well make positive habits and feel happy as make negative
ones and feel sad.
Here is a checklist of daily positive habits:
1. dress the best you can
2. smile at others and watch what happens
3. try to genuinely like others
4. use positive strokes
5. when you meet a stranger, be the first to shake hands
6. be interested in the world around you
7. give others the most precious gift you have: some of
your time
8. take time over your personal grooming to look your
best
9. give yourself treats for work well done.

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
KEEP LOOKING UP
We all unconsciously know that looking up makes us feel
better, but there is actually a scientific explanation for this.
When you look up and around you, you access your visual
cortex which is at the rear of the brain and helps you
visualise. When you look up, it's almost impossible to have a
negative thought. By contrast, looking down allows us to
access our negative emotions and inner critic.
Interestingly, this is also the reason why we look up to stop
ourselves from crying, such as at the funeral of a close
friend or relative.
This explains why we use expressions such as "things are
looking up" and "down in the dumps".

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN...
Some years ago a major oil company decided to find out
why some of their engineers were creative and others were
not.
A team of psychologists spent three months in the
organisation studying the engineers and asking them
questions. At the end of the investigation they produced a
report. The conclusion was simple. There was no difference
in qualifications, training, education, experience, general
skills, nor in company position, between the creative
engineers and the non-creative ones.
The only difference was that the creative engineers thought
that they were creative while the non-creative thought they
weren't.
In life you get what you believe you'll get.

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MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Positivity
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Positivity

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