Victoria Day: A Positive Attitude

In his book The Difference Maker, John C. Maxwell writes, “Your attitude colors every aspect of your life. It is like the mind’s paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright, vibrant colors -- creating a masterpiece. Or it can make everything dark and dreary.” This was definitely true in the story of the Overland Relief Expedition. The three men on this journey had a great attitude throughout their mission, which caused them to be successful. There are many examples throughout the book in which this was evident.

Optimism can mean the difference in a patient’s outlook. The first example is when I walked onto the unit one day; a family member approached me and told me that it was nice to see a smiling face. That meant a lot to me. Patients and their families both experience hardships and emotional changes when someone is sick or hurt. Leading me to the next example, being optimistic when my patients fear that they may not return to their former state of independence and acknowledging their concerns. Many patients have these valid fears, and being the positive outlook instead of agreeing with them sometimes helps get them to the finish line.

I am convinced that my attitude coupled with the unique strength of divine intervention will be the major factors propelling me towards excellence in my Professional career. My father has repeatedly instilled in me that failure is not an option. A great attitude serves as the foundation for all things I do. Having a positive attitude means many things. It is a way of life rather than something you put on and take off depending on

This summer I began reading a book titled, “Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People do” By Dr. Robert Schuller. In this book he highlighted a concept describing positivity thinking. Positivity thinking is a conscious effort to always choose positivity when neutral or negative thoughts may be easy to settle for. This has help me in building a positive workplace environment. But this environment was established before this summer internship. Josh Whitman, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (”DIA”) Director of Athletics, changed the department's atmosphere with a three word hashtag. #WeWillWin. This type of positivity thinking challenges complacency and negativity with hope. With this atmosphere established by the department's head, his subordinates must be able to buy in and promote such way of thinking. Positive and passionate professionals always seem to be on their game. These three things have assisted me in my contribution to this positivity thinking. I will explain in the following paragraphs.

The concept of optimistic response or being positive is by no means ideal where you don’t experience negative emotions. Obviously, we can’t avoid negativity in our lives; bad things do happen always. What matters is the rate of positive to negative emotions over time. We have to be sure that we have more than enough positive experiences to counterbalance the negative ones. (Carbrera, 2010)

Michael Jordan once said, "Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." This quote is a quality example of being optimistic. I look at this quote and see, if anyone is ever negative and doubtful of an idea or a challenge, they should rethink they're situation, look at the positive side of it and conquer their challenge. There are many fancy, lengthy definitions to describe optimism, but it is very simple. Being optimistic is being positive. Simple as that people.

Victoria is a 36 month toddler who goes by the nickname Vickie. She is the youngest child in the family and has two older sisters, one who is fourteen and the other is twenty. Her father is a stay at home dad who is unemployed and her mother works as a full time shipping handler for an electronic company. Her mother is in her early to mid 40s and her father is in his early 50s. She spends a majority of her time with her sisters and father at home watching television, reading, riding the bicycle, or drawing. She is relatively close to her siblings but spends most of her time playing alone because they are busy with school and homework on most days. Victoria spends more time with her father but her father is distant and acts as a supervisor when watching over her when she plays indoors and outdoors. Although her mother works full time, she is the primary caretaker at home because she supports the family financially, completes all the chores, attends and takes the children to extracurricular activities on a regular basis, and is more emotionally available and supportive than her father is. They live in a condo in Temple City located in the Los Angeles

Life in my thirties has been very different than life in my twenties. When I was in my twenties I can honestly say my attitude was not the best. I was constantly on the negative side of the track. When I turned thirty, it was like, the light bulb finally came on. The negative nelly attitude went out the window. I finally realized; I could speak positivity or negativity into existence. So, I made a choice to always be positive. People who go through life with a positive attitude are more likely to achieve their personal and professional goals (Reece 2014, pg.122).

From the beginning of the 1700s, Great Britain was one of the most powerful countries in the world due to its military, and economic prosperity. At the turn of the century, Great Britain transitioned out of an agricultural nation to more of an industrial nation, starting the Industrial Revolution. Better transportation, the recession of feudalism, population growth and financial innovations all led Britain into not only the Industrial Revolution, but also the world trade market as well.1 However Britain’s empire alongside its part in the Industrial Revolution also added to the nation’s great power. According to an article by Business Insider, Britain’s empire spanned over 13 million square miles of land, almost a full quarter of the Earth’s entire land mass.2

Anne Frank was thirteen during the holocaust in which she had to hide from German officers. She stayed positive the whole time and one example of this comes from page (insert page number here) “I don't think I'll ever feel at home in this house, but that doesn't mean I hate it. It's more like being on vacation in some strange pension” (Anne Frank). Instead of making the worst out of the situation Anne stays positive and modifies her brain into thinking she's on vacation. This lets her stay happy even though she is going through large amounts of conflict. Anne didn’t stay positive just that one time. In the same day she had another thought about the annex which stated “The Annex is an ideal place to hide in. It may be damp and lopsided, but there's probably not a more comfortable hiding place in all of Amsterdam. No, in all of Holland” (Anne Frank [page number]). Although The Annex was poor in living conditions Anne Frank didn’t mind because she knew that it was the best hiding place in Holland. Another example of being positive comes from Dear Miss Breed where Louise says “I’d much rather sleep in the Santa Anita horse stables… This trip has made me realize the wonderful work of nature” (Oppenheim 412). Louise starts out by having a negative attitude on the situation. She later turns it around and realizes how beautiful it was on

By skipping the time spent on wallowing in sadness and put on a positive attitude instead, I can effectively breeze through challenging situations with a calm mind that is constantly generating a variety of solutions. Although this optimism cannot necessarily be applied to tests, I discovered it is incredibly useful in situations of extreme volatility, especially in managing club fundraisers.

Second, having a positive attitude helps the workplace run smoothly. If people are being negative it could cause something to mess up. Be able to leave your problems at the door, so they don’t affect your attitude at work. In any workplace people are only wanting to see positive

Suzanne Hazelton, who is a leadership coach and positive psychologist, authored the article Positive Emotions Boost Employee Engagement (Hazelton, 2014). She has published several books on positive work life, the latest of her manuscript is Great Days at Work: How Positive Psychology Can Transform your Working Life. This particular article was published in Human Resource Management International Digest
a professional peer reviewed journal.

For a sales person, having a positive attitude makes it easier to approach customers and keeps the customers’ attention up until the purchase is complete.

As we’ve seen from the definition of positive intelligence, it seems as though the importance of mastering the concepts are self-evident. We all want to perform at our best in whatever task we take on providing the greatest possible product or resource for our employer. We’ve all worked with someone who has constantly portrayed a negative attitude and it never contributed to a highly effective workplace. John Maxwell is a motivational speaker and leadership expert has made a living off of getting people to think more positively through their daily tasks to produce high level results. In his Daily Reader book he provides an example of what positive thought and positive expectations can provide a person. He says that if a person gives themselves just 30 days of expecting the best of everything they will often receive the positive outcomes they perceive. He says a person will get out of their life everything they expect from it, god or bad (Maxwell, 2007). The power of positive intelligence can be profound on a personal and professional level and its importance should not be discredited.