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Managing Negativity to a positive outcome


Have you ever heard that "Negativity" is something that we cannot afford to have in our life, and we should always try to convert the negative energy to the positive one?

This similar message has been mentioned by many experts, written in many books.

Indeed! Negativity does somehow seem to be destructive, but there is always the other side of the coin!

I have personally encountered people who are extremely negative, and, helping them (short term) to work towards positivity does not change who they really are (their core behavior). Short term training and positive reinforcements do help changed their behavior, but only for a short period.

Such positivity training is akin to pushing a ball up to the top edge of the cone. Once released (short training completed), the ball will eventually find it's way back to its origin.

Personally, I agree that positivity training is great, and I believe that it will be more efficacious if it is to be combined with coaching sessions to help the people with Negativity recognise their own unique way of contribution through Negativity.

Such is similar to "Taichi", in which one does not simply go directly against the opposing force, but using your opponents' strength against them. In this case, instead of "against them", we can work with them and "lead" the force to a better use (collaboration).

In math, you will get a Positive when "Negative" is multiplied by "Negative".

After all, is Negativity really that bad? Or is Negativity beneficial to people?

Negative people:

1) Over worry - *They constantly worry about not being able to meet deadline/goals/etc... And having such "worry" often pushes them to take actions, taking more steps toward their goal.

2) Tends to whine / complain - *A person who complains/whines, cares deeply, but felt that they do not have the power to change anything. (Sometimes, these concerns are really worth looking into, to deliver positive changes!)

3) Impatience - *I once read a quote from a book:

Things comes to the person who waits, but only leftovers by those who hustled.

4) And so much more...

So, how to recognise the negative behaviors? How to work with people who are negative? And how to use the "Negativity" to everyone's benefit?

In my next post, I will show some of the examples, and some characteristics of a negative person.


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