The Positive Approach To Being Who You Are Only More So

There are many ways to live life. One way is to follow the positive approach to being who you are only more so. It is to do this in a way that helps other people during your time on the planet.

There are different ways to follow this approach. These include doing things that give you positive energy, following your positive principles and making a positive contribution in your life and work.

This approach involves a person focusing on who they are rather than who they are not. It can also be that people tend to dare to follow this approach more as they get older.

Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach. This can involve focusing on the following theme.

Being Who You Are – Only More
So – And Helping Other People

Many people are urged to be true to themselves. They are encouraged to follow their philosophy and the principles they believe in. Some people are able to do this and, despite having setbacks, enjoy a sense of peace.

Some people find this more difficult. They may be surrounded by influences that make it challenging to be true to themselves. Some may find it hard to know or do what they believe in.

Some individuals get to a point in life where they explore some of well-known questions regarding their purpose. These include the following:

Who am I? Why am I here? What do I want to do in my life?

These are valid questions, but they can be hard to answer. Sometimes a person may find themselves going around in circles. Even if they answer these questions, they may then need to decide what to do with the information.

Some individuals take another approach. Such people often have a sense of perspective and see themselves as small in the great sweep of history. Bearing this in mind, they ask themselves:

What do I want to give to people? What are my strengths? How can I use these to help others? What is the positive contribution I want to make during my time on the planet?

People who take this approach believe that they are what they do, not what they say.This is because other people will only see how they behave rather than see their motives. They follow the well-known principle that:

By their fruits, you shall know them.

As mentioned earlier, there are many ways to take this step. The following section gives an introduction to some of these approaches.

The Positive Energy Approach

Energy is life. So what gives you positive energy? How can you do more of these things in the future? Doing these can help to recharge your batteries. They can also give you more strength to give to other people.

People who take this approach often feel more alive and creative. Some translate this into doing positive projects. They may also encourage other people to do things that give them positive energy. This approach is related to the idea that:

What you focus on you become.

If you focus on positive things, you are more likely to feel positive. If you focus on possible solutions, you are more likely to feel optimistic. If you focus on negative things – without exploring solutions – you are more likely to feel negative.

There are many ways to follow the positive energy approach. The following section looks at some you can follow in your own way.

You Can Do The Things
That Give You Positive Energy

What are the things that give you positive energy? Here are some answers that people give when exploring these themes.

Personal Life

The specific things that give me
positive energy in my personal life are:

Being with our children … Writing … Looking after our garden … Listening to the sound of falling water … Singing in the choir … Taking walks by myself … Spending time with my partner … Being with positive people … Feeling I have a sense of purpose … Following my principles.

Professional Life

The specific things that give me
positive energy in my professional life are:

Encouraging people … Caring for animals … Designing things … Playing to my strengths … Doing stimulating projects … Working with certain kinds of customers … Being a trusted advisor … Building successful prototypes … Leading pioneering teams … Helping people to achieve success.

This is an exercise that I used on workshops for individuals and groups. Each person wrote their lists on flip charts. They then formed pairs and shared what they had written. This set a positive tone for the sessions.

The exercise provided valuable information about the kinds of work that individuals found satisfying. Sometimes we were able to translate these into doing work that helped their colleagues or clients to achieve success.

Later we will look at an exercise regarding how you can do more of the things that give you positive energy. Before then, it can also be useful to explore the following theme.

You Can Encourage Other People To Do
Things That Give Them Positive Energy

If appropriate, you can use this approach in your personal or professional life. You can use it with individuals, teams and even with organisations.

One approach is to encourage individuals to do things that give them positive energy. This could be your child, partner, friend, work colleague or another person. Again, only use it if you feel it may be appropriate.

Some people use the approach in their professional life. They may be working as a counsellor, teacher, therapist, coach, mentor, trusted advisor or in another professional role. They may be helping either:

A young person who has difficulty at school … A person who feels depressed … A person who wants to regain a sense of purpose.

A person who wants to build on their strengths … A person who wants to do satisfying work … A person who want to make a positive contribution during their time on the planet.

A team that wants to build on its strengths, do superb work and help its stakeholders to achieve success … An organisation that wants to build successful prototypes that help to shape a positive future.

This approach may seem simple but it often works. It helps people to feel more alive and improve their wellbeing. It can also help them to maintain a positive attitude, do positive work and get positive results.

Let’s return to your own life and work. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.

First, to describe the things that give you positive energy in your personal and professional life. Second, to describe how you can do more of these things in the future. Third, to describe the benefits of doing these things.

Here is the exercise. It invites you to complete the following sentences.

The Positive Principles Approach

There are many ways to live life. One approach is to clarify the positive principles you want to follow in your life. It is then to try to express these in your daily life and work.

Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach. This can involve focusing on the following themes.

You can clarify the positive
principles you want to follow

One approach is to start by brainstorming the principles you want to follow in your life. You can then settle on, for example, the three positive principles you want to follow.

Different people will obviously focus on different principles. Here are some of the things that people write when exploring these themes.

My Positive Principles

I want to encourage people in my life and work … I want to continue to have a sense of gratitude … I want to care for my loved ones … I want to create enriching environments in which people grow.

I want to use my strengths to help people to succeed … I want to build pioneering things that show people a better way … I want to do my best during my time on the planet … I want to die feeling at peace.

Let’s assume that you have clarified the positive principles you want to follow. If appropriate, you can then move on to the next stage.

You can clarify how you want to
translate these principles into action

Some people find that it can take a while to settle on their chosen principles. Whilst they may make a long list, it can be useful for them to then settle on the top three they want to follow.

Imagine that you have settled on your principles. The next stage involves translating each of these into action. When doing this, it can be useful to start by focusing on one of the principles and aiming:

To describe the specific things you can do – in behavioural terms – to translate this principle into action in a specific situation;

To rehearse translating this principle into action – rehearsing the actual things you will do – in the specific situation;

To then do your best to translate this principle into action in the specific situation.

Sometimes it may be easy to translate your principles into action. Sometimes it may be more challenging. The following pages provide exercises that you can use to follow this approach in your own way.

The Positive Contribution Approach

Many people want to make a positive contribution during their time on the planet. They may want to encourage their loved ones and help others to be happy. They want to pass on knowledge that helps future generations.

They may do this in the family, school, workplace or society. They want to give people positive memories for life. Some people use their strengths to do superb work that helps people and the planet.

Some focus on the positive things they want to do or to give to people during their time on the planet. Here are things that people mention.

The positive things I want to do or to give
to people during my time on the planet are:

To create a loving home … To give people encouragement … To help people to build on their strengths … To inspire my students … To create a website that helps people who experience certain illnesses.

To help people to have access to clean water … To create technology that simplifies people’s lives … To work to maintain a free press … To help people to find or create satisfying work.

To create inspiring music … To make films that help people to appreciate the wonders of nature … To pass on knowledge and practical tools that help people to shape a positive future.

As mentioned earlier, there are many ways to live life. One way is to follow the positive approach to being who you are only more so. It is also to do this in a way that helps other people.

If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to describe the positive contribution you may want to make during your time on the planet.