Jobseeker Columnist (October 2009)

Turning Negativity into Power.

“Negativity is a natural response by our mind and body in order to defend us from unfavourable outcomes”

Think for a minute to all the successful people that you know. Are they always positive, bubbly and in a generally good mood? Or do you see fire in their eyes and in this fire you see a combustible mixture of drive, hope for the future, fear for the unknown, a concoction of positivity and negativity hence creating a realist who is able to hope for the best but yet expect the worst?

Pretend you are a train, some of us are light passenger trains and we can start moving from a standstill fairly easily. In this case we only need one engine to pull a long line of passenger carts. Some of us on the other hand are like freight trains, packed to the brim with heavy cargo and baggage. With heavy freight trains, there is usually a need for the use of two engines. One at the front to pull and another at the back for the additional push.

Anthony Robbins frequently says that everything we do in life, we do for two reasons, the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain. We get married because we pursue the pleasure of being in love, then again there may be also that voice that tells you that you wouldn’t want to be old and lonely now would you? We buy a car because we want the pleasure of convenience, perhaps even the pleasure of luxury and prestige, then again we may be avoiding the pain of rude bus drivers and incessant waits at the bus stands. When we procrastinate in the office we are avoiding stress (which has a habit of coming back with a vengeance). On the flipside, we get things done in the office also for the satisfaction of a job well done.

Most successful people harness both positive and negative energy, giving themselves both the pull of the front and the push of the back train engines. One word of caution though. Trains when only being pushed from behind run the risk of derailment so we cannot use just negative energy. Instead using a healthy mix of positive and negative motivation factors would lead to peak performance.

So how do we harness negative energy? Here are three tips.

Tip 1:
Embrace fear, use fear in order to motivate us. Pretend for a moment that you are in a Hollywood movie. You are flying a small single engine sputtering propeller plane and there are dark clouds with lightning and thunder enveloping the skies behind you, a hurricane is forming. If you don’t fly faster than the dark clouds you will risk crashing. Right ahead of you however are clear skies, bright and blue with fluffy clouds. If you were piloting the plane, would you fly the plane at full speed away from the clouds into the clear weather? Use this analogy the next time you procrastinate. Imagine the dark clouds of consequence, what will happen if you don’t get it done. Imagine it with vivid detail of disaster. Also imagine the consequence of successfully completing the task at hand, exaggerate the positive benefits and dream of clear beautiful skies.

Tip 2:
Negativity is a natural response by our mind and body in order to defend us from unfavourable outcomes. Negativity is a defence mechanism. Just think of public speaking.  If we are not in the least bit negative or fearful of the outcome, we may be over-confident. After all the training and speaking in public, I realize that when I did not feel fear prior to speaking, my talks would lack the edge. When I did feel fear, I would prepare and prepare and prepare, because I wanted to wipe off the fear that I had to be replaced with confidence. Use negativity to propel us to greater heights of preparedness. Keep in mind though that there must be a positive aspect to using negativity, otherwise we will be bogged down, unable to move or take action.

Tip 3:
Negativity is a powerful force, especially when you are working in a team. If you can balance a team with both positive and negative energy, as a collective, your group will have the vision, hope and passion that comes with positivity and the preparedness and problem solving potential of negativity. It is a winning combination.

So if you feel negative at times, don’t fret. In fact, even if you feel negative most times, worry not. Just remember that this emotion can serve you well if you used tips one to three and if you knew how to balance it with positivity in the form of visualizations, goal setting and hanging around the right people.

I would suggest these books for further reading: -
•           Stop Self Sabotage – Pat Pearson
•           Secrets of the Millionaire Mind – T. Harv Eker
•           The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

There’s also an express seminar you can attend on the 24th of October, all proceeds of which will be for good causes. Click here for more details.

Cheers,

Edmond Yap