It seems as if all we hear in the news these days is how bad the
economy is and how bad EVERYTHING is. It’s difficult to stay positive
when we’re bombarded with bad news in the papers and on television.
Years ago, I met a therapist at an event who was explaining the power
of positive thinking. It was a sales seminar and part of me planned on
tuning her “motivational” speech out until I heard her describe a
practice called “pivoting”. Pivoting is when you feel completely
depressed and down and instead of letting your bad mood rule the day,
you consciously decide to turn it around and look at everything in a
positive light. For example, I was selling watches at the time and if I
didn’t sell the first customer of the day, I always felt the rest of my
appointments would fall flat as well. Of course, I always blamed my
customers for why they didn’t buy until I heard this therapist say that
our attitudes directly affect every person we come in contact with.
This therapist said that when we “pivot” our bad moods into good ones,
we change not only our negative feelings but those of the others around
us.
From that time on, I began playing a game with myself to consciously
“flip” my outlook on life whenever I started feeling negative. With
this attitude, I have been able to start and keep my company running,
overcome some health issues and even help my daughters see the power of
positive thought in their daily routines. My hope is that this
“pivoting” therapy will catch on and the media will begin to look at the
positives a bleak economy or any negative situation brings. I know it
sounds corny but people come together in rough times and support each
other. People want to thrive, not just survive, and if we could just
get the media to report from a positive angle, maybe we could all pivot
on those days when that feeling of impending doom looms over us.
