When you’re spending every day working in close quarters with your colleagues, it’s easy to succumb to the constant hum of negativity in the background – but this is your sign to STOP! Having a positive mental attitude can prevent obstructive comments or gloomy mindsets from bringing you down, and help you achieve more at work.
Whether you have your sights set on a promotion, smashing your targets, getting on a project, or to simply become a better team player- then a positive mental attitude is your golden ticket. By keeping your mindset in check, your mental and physical health improves, and with it your performance, making those goals even more attainable.
Why is a positive mental attitude important?
They say misery loves company, but so does positivity, and it’s no secret that a successful business ultimately comes down to a positive working environment. Just like negative emotions, positive attitudes are infectious, and the more people in the office with a glass-half-full mentality, the more productive and supportive the environment will become for everyone. It only takes one negative comment to upset the apple cart and dampen the mood, so it’s very important to keep team morale up and the positive vibes flowing.
The key to a positive workplace lies at the top of the pyramid. If those promoting leadership are practicing positive mental attitudes themselves, this will filter down through the ranks and create a happy environment throughout the company. A positive leader is someone who takes time to build relationships with employees and makes room for communication and collaboration. A positive influence from above is the number one way to nurture and shape employees into successful leaders themselves, creating a cycle for a happy and healthy workplace
No matter if you’re looking for the next step on your career ladder, or you’re running the show, a positive atmosphere should be your top priority. Take the time to find, or create somewhere that views challenge as an opportunity, and promotes success through positive mental attitude.
What are the benefits of a positive mental attitude?
Aside from the obvious ‘be more successful’ there are countless other benefits that go hand in hand with a positive mental attitude. And these aren’t just limited to work either but cross the boundaries to your personal health and well-being as well.
Work benefits
Research shows that working with a positive attitude improves your performance on every level from productivity and creativity to critical thinking and accuracy. So as the quality of your work skyrockets, so will your achievements.
Furthermore, having a positive mindset is more likely to land you with new opportunities. Whether that’s a lead position on a project or a promotion, people who have a positive attitude to their work and teammates are more likely to be selected over others due to their ability to positively influence those around them.
Health benefits
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that high anxiety levels cloud our ability to assess situations and solve problems. This happens when the amygdala, the area of the brain that processes threats, is activated and takes resources away from the prefrontal cortex, needed for effective cognitive control. A positive mental attitude has the potential to rewrite this sequence of events. Studies have shown those who maintain a positive mindset showed a longer-lasting activation of the ventral striatum, directly resulting in extended feelings of well-being. The activation of this part of the brain saw fewer stress hormones stolen from the prefrontal cortex, and an increase of our ‘feel good’ hormone, dopamine.
Reducing stress doesn’t just do wonderful things for our mental health but our physical health too. Lower levels of stress has been associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease, two conditions affecting a whopping number of employees across the globe. In fact, one study highlighted that those who work long hours in an office are 66% more likely to develop sustained hypertension. Your body is the vessel that facilitates your success at work, so supporting it with a positive mental attitude is critical to see you thrive.
How to keep a positive mental attitude at work
Like so many things to do with mental health, it all comes down to who you have in your bubble. Surround yourself with other positive and optimistic people and do your best to avoid those who give off negative energy. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to avoid people like this entirely, and particularly if you’re working in a large team, there are bound to be a few of them lurking around you. With the right mindset and orienting yourself around like-minded colleagues you can tune out the negativity and focus on your goals.
Speaking of mindset, here are some positive mental attitude tips to help you get started:
- Change your language. When met with a challenge or bump in the road, change your language when you think and speak about it. Instead of seeing it as a negative, focus on the positive outcomes, whether that’s an opportunity to learn new skills or working alongside new people, there is always something beneficial to take away from any scenario.
- Be a ‘yes’ person. Start saying yes to more things, particularly if that’s helping out a co-worker. The more you engage in new activities, whether they’re work-related or personal, it will trigger those feel-good hormones to start flowing.
- Know your limits. That being said, it’s important not to take on too much and remember it’s OK to say no from time to time. Burnout is a surefire way to derail your positive attitude and damage your mental health, so make sure you’re not overdoing it. Remember, quality over quantity!
- Keep it professional. Try not to bring too much of your personal life into the office. Keeping it a strictly working environment will make it much easier to detach yourself in your downtime. Just make sure you have a supportive network outside of work that you can offload to when necessary!
- Make an effort. If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you’ll do good… so make an effort for work. Dress well and envision yourself smashing those targets or getting promoted to keep you motivated.
- Practice using affirmations. Using positive affirmations every day can help instill confidence and raise your self-esteem, whilst also helping to tune out unhelpful thoughts or energy around you. Affirmations are what we do best at Morale, so if you want to give them a go, you’re in the right place! Discover how positive affirmation cards can help get your started.
Building a positive mental attitude starts with you and you not only have the power to change your mindset, but those of the people close to you too. As we mentioned earlier, positive attitudes are contagious, and with a little help from Morale, you can transform your working environment with just a few quick clicks. Share daily affirmations anonymously with your colleagues and help them find the perfect mindset too. Trust us, a little positivity goes a long way, and it won’t be long before everyone’s sharing good vibes around the office.
With Morale, it couldn’t be any easier to create your dream team at work! Just download the app from Google Play or Apple’s App Store and start sharing the love.
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Got something to say? We’d love to hear from you so just drop us an email at contact@moraleapp.co , we’re all ears!
