Stay positive

Marcial Losada is an organisational psychologist who studies the power of positivity. He argues that we need a negative feedback loop to survive. Without midcourse corrections, we mindlessly make the same mistakes. But if you want to thrive, you also need a positive feedback loop. His studies have produced what is known as the Losada ratio: it’s the ratio of positive feedback to negative feedback in a system. It doesn’t matter whether that system is a church, a family, or your workplace, there needs to be at least 2.9 positive feedbacks for every one negative. So, what’s your ratio as a spouse, a parent, a worker, a friend? Part of the reason for the disparity is that negative feedback tends to carry more weight and last longer, so it has to be counterbalanced. A pretty good rule of thumb is this: dish out three compliments for every complaint. Instead of looking for faults, train yourself to catch people doing things right. And here are a few more things you can do to stay positive. 1) Memorise and meditate on the promises of God’s Word and anchor yourself to them. 2) Keep a gratitude journal. It will let you know how blessed and how well-off you are. 3) Cultivate the habit of sending a heartfelt note to people you appreciate. It’ll only take you two minutes, but you can make someone’s day, or even someone’s year! 4) Find a way to share ‘wins’ with your family and in your workplace. It has the power to shift the focus and shift the culture. It’ll also anchor you to your kids and to your colleagues in a powerful new way.© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.