Skip to content When times get tough, most people wait for things to get better before taking action.
The problem is, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 never starts with waiting. It 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠.
In challenging environments, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 don’t push for perfection. They 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: small, human actions that keep people connected and moving forward.
Mahatma Gandhi once wrote, “Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior…” The sequence still holds true at work: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.
Research in positive psychology supports this. Studies from the University of North Carolina’s Barbara
Fredrickson (Broaden -and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, American Psychologist (1998)) show that 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 . When people feel hopeful, curious, or connected, they recover from stress faster and perform better.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: “What’s one thing that worked this week?” This reinforces
optimism and learning.
𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬. Focus less on what went wrong and more on what you’ll try next. Keep the focus on learning and forward motion.
𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 like a new way of recognizing effort, connecting remotely, or simplifying workflow.
𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Admitting what you are still figuring out normalizes growth and curiosity.
𝐓𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐬.
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 “𝐭𝐫𝐲” 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤?
