What is it about human nature that makes us see the glass as half empty? It seems it is always easier to dwell upon the impending doom than to maintain an upbeat positive attitude. Even though my own personal life, my career path and my own overall happiness and wellness have proven to me the power of positive thinking, I sometimes falter and am guilty of being pulled to the dark side. Negativity seems to breed more negativity and you would think that the opposite would be true. I have noticed that my own writing has a certain "preach-i-ness" to it. It looks like I'm reminding all of you to do good and be ethical and to uphold what I believe to be good values. In fact, what I'm doing is reminding myself so as to maintain those ideals and as a personal reinforcement of my own true beliefs. It is sort of like a personal "mental sticky note"....if I jot it down, it reminds me to do it myself.
I find and I feel that there are far too many of us pulling others down and not enough of us boosting up and playing cheerleader. You may have noticed the number of posts that I have contributed lately has dwindled. I am trying to honor my mother who told me "If you can't say something nice..." Lately, I have had trouble living the positive and have subscribed to the "fake it until you make it" book of life lessons. This is not to say that all I say and read is negative, but I find myself being poorly motivated to comment on the negative or nasty V.S. accentuating the positive. My own brand of sarcasm is absolutely wicked and I have been drawn to that sort of edge in my responses. For this, I apologize to any and all who have fallen victim or anywhere in the line of fire.
The truth is that all the negative things that can affect a small business owner have shaken my confidence and what I believe is my normally positive outlook. Our costs of doing business have increased. Our income has decreased significantly-we haven't lost customers or accounts, but everyone's volume is considerably lower right now. This challenges me every day to find new and creative ways of promoting what I/we do. Along with this come the responsibilities that are mine as breadwinner and homeowner and parent. I have always been one who wears his heart on his sleeve and an open book. I have been frustrated that I have the perfect job (for me), love everything about what I do, but have been limited by forces outside of my control from doing it. It has taken me my entire adult life to find a job that fits me so well and that I love and am truly great at, and to be confined from doing this work I love is just too much for me to take at times.
In my former business life I held an "Alley Rally" every day to give employees direction, motivation and remind them of the task ahead and to keep their eyes on the ultimate goal. Sometimes I forget to pump myself up and stir up that positive energy in myself. I hope each of you can recognize these traits in yourselves and know that the power of positive thinking is real...as long as you work to believe it. I'm going to go out now and take on the day, make money, make contacts and stay positive when those around me are not....I hope you do the same! (How's that for a sticky note?)
"A Quick Note"
www.aquicknote.net
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