Especially these days, the downward spiral we all experience from time to time is all too familiar. A bad hour leads to a bad day, which leads to a long week, and a dire month. Focusing on the things that are difficult seems intuitive as that might help us to overcome them, but what if there was another way? What if there was a way to spiral upward?
The Broaden and Build hypothesis suggests exactly that - by focusing on positive experiences, we can generate further positive experiences with even greater rewards! What I'm talking about is not manifesting or wishful thinking, but more spring boarding from one positive experience to the next.
Imagine in the morning when you open your curtains, the sun shines through and the sky is a beautiful blue; you then go on happily making an extra nice breakfast full of fruit, drive to work humming along to your favourite song, and dive right into your jobs for the day both happy and motivated. You broadened your ideas of what you could achieve and feel that day, and throughout the day built the motivation, and maybe new skills, to tackle your tasks.
Sometimes it can feel like the positives and negatives in life come and go as they please (and sometimes they do), but we are not entirely powerless in the pursuit and use of motivation and happiness. If your manager has commended you for doing a good job, or you're working with a lovely new team, really acknowledge the positive thoughts and feelings that come with that. Feeling happier, energised, or awake? See what new approaches you can take to life that you wouldn't normally have the energy for. After a good day, it is tempting to say 'well that was nice' and sit back, but if you're feeling that good then keep it going!
If you (like me) aren't really used to focusing on positives, that's okay. A simple question to ask ourselves is 'what is the worst that could happen?'. Seriously. If trying some weird way of looking at positives takes only a few moments a day with no real downsides, then there isn't much harm in trying it.
Spiralling upwards isn't a way to ignore negative emotions or experiences and blindly focus on positives. Negative stuff comes up, and that is important. Spirally upwards is a way to make the most of positive feelings when we do find or create them, and is an easy way to remind ourselves that we do have a lot of power positively we think and feel.
Next time something nice or positive happens for you, don't brush it off or move hurriedly on to the next thing. Stop. Appreciate it. And see if it can help spiral up to new heights.
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