If we are being honest, doesn’t it feel good sometimes to complain? You turn to someone and let it all out!
It starts with you just complaining about your current project.
And then you vent about how frustrating your boss is.
Then how annoyed you are with your coworkers.
Pretty soon, you think, “Why do I even work in this stupid place?”
…and now you’ve done it. You are spiraling down the path, trapped in the Vortex of Negativity.
Life isn’t a smooth sail; it’s more like a rollercoaster ride, complete with its ups and downs. In our professional endeavors, these downs often manifest as setbacks, failures, or even moments of self-doubt.
And even though those complaints give you a small bit of relief, if you look at it, there is nothing truly freeing about the Vortex of Negativity.
What we need is to choose a positive, A+ attitude to gain back our freedom and control our response to the chaos around us.
Up for the challenge? Let’s talk about what actions you can take to escape the Vortex of Negativity and instead, find the Pathway to Positivity.
Here are the 3 Steps to the Pathway to Positivity:
Step 1: Identify a negative thought that is calling on you to complain.
One example might be: “I’ll never get promoted to Director.”
Step 2: Ask yourself if that thought is true.
It might be true that you were just told you didn’t get the role in this promotional cycle. You are disappointed and a sense of hopelessness is natural.
The thought has morphed from, “I didn’t get promoted this cycle,” to something more negative, “I will never get promoted.”
Step 3: Replace the negative thought with one that is more action oriented about the future.
“I am disappointed that I didn’t get promoted in this cycle. However, that doesn’t mean I will never be promoted. I need to get tangible feedback to find the area that prevented my promotion and get a plan in place to fix it for the future of my career.”
Side bar: Notice that I didn’t say – Ignore your feelings. – Get over it. – Suck it up! Your emotion of disappointment is trying to tell you something about what is going on in that big, beautiful brain of yours. So, acknowledge it. Just don’t let it drive you into the Vortex and entrap you in negative thinking.
Ultimately, the Vortex of Negativity may feel like a short-term fix, but in the long run it is a dead-end road. By shifting your perspective and taking proactive steps to free yourself from its grip you can navigate towards a brighter, more fulfilling career path.
Reagan’s Rule: Chart your course for the pathway of positivity by replacing the negative thoughts with the action-oriented ones that will free your life and career.
