There are many ways to live life. Some people aim to do things that give positive energy – providing these do not hurt other people. They then aim to make a positive contribution and do their best to get positive results.
Some people aim to encourage others in the family, school, work or society. Some use their strengths to help people to succeed. Some aim to pass on knowledge that helps people to shape a positive future.
Different people take these steps in different ways. Whichever route they follow, however, such people sometimes focus on the following themes.
Positive Energy
People who take this approach often focus on doing things that give them positive energy. This gives them the strength to manage challenges and also keep giving to other people.
Looking at your own life, what are the things that give you positive energy? What may you sometimes do to encourage people to do things that give them positive energy?
Different people describe different things when exploring these themes. Here are some they may mention.
Personal Life – The 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 things that give me
positive energy in my professional life are:
Playing to my strengths … Caring for animals … Doing stimulating projects … Working with certain kinds of customers … Being a trusted advisor … Building successful prototypes … Leading pioneering teams … Helping people to achieve success.
People – The things that I may sometimes
do that encourage people to experience or
focus on what gives them positive energy are:
Encouraging people … Helping people to manage traumatic situations … Performing music … Making films that inspire people … Doing interior design that helps to create enriching environments … Passing on knowledge that people can use to achieve success.
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.
People who take this approach often feel more alive and creative. Some translate this into doing positive projects. 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.
As mentioned earlier, you may sometimes follow elements of this approach in your personal life. When appropriate, you may encourage individuals to do things that give them positive energy.
Some people follow this 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.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Imagine that you want to follow elements of the positive energy approach. How can you do this in your own way? If you wish, try tackling the exercise on these themes. These invite you to complete the following sentences.
Positive Contribution
Imagine that you have clarified some of the things that give you positive energy. You may have also described how you would like to do more of these things in the future.
There are many ways to take these steps. One approach is to clarify a positive contribution that you would like to make in your personal or professional life. Different people do this in different ways.
Some people aim to serve something greater than themselves. Some focus on a specific purpose, follow certain principles and work towards achieving a picture of success.
Some people may follow a sense of vocation. This may be their calling or the things they cannot help but do. They may then express this through various vehicles on the way towards doing valuable work.
Some people aim to build on their strengths and do superb work. They then set specific goals, follow strategies that work and do their best to achieve success.
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. Some may also want to pass on knowledge that helps future generations.
Different people choose different ways to clarify the contribution they want to make during their lives. Some people explore questions similar to those asked by Buckminster Fuller at a challenging time in his life.
Bearing in mind his strengths, he focused on how to use these to help other people. Bucky went on to do pioneering work and produce books such as Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth.
Imagine that you want to clarify the positive contribution you want to make in your life or work. One approach is to explore the following steps.
You can clarify the positive
things you want to give to people
Looking ahead, what are they positive things you want to give to people during your time on the planet? What could be the benefits of giving these to people?
Different people give different answers when exploring this theme. Some also realise that the things they want to give to others may mirror the things they have been given. Here are some of the things they may mention.
The positive things that I want to give to
people during my time on the planet are:
Lots of encouragement … A loving home … Nourishing food … Positive experiences … Helping them to build on their strengths … The chance to do satisfying work … Practical tools they can use to shape a positive future.
Imagine you want to follow elements of this approach in your own life. Bearing in mind what you can control, you may want to clarify a positive contribution you want to make in your personal or professional life.
You may want to focus on something relatively simple. You may aim to encourage a person, run an inspiring workshop, do work that helps people to achieve success or do something practical that cares for the planet.
You may want to do something that could reach many people. You may want to run a website that helps people who are experiencing certain challenges, help people to find solutions to a conflict or pass on knowledge that helps people to shape a positive future.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you: a) to clarify a specific thing you would like to do to encourage people and make a positive contribution; b) to clarify the specific results you want to achieve by making this contribution.
Positive Results
People who follow the positive energy approach may translate this into working to achieve a specific goal. They may then aim to make a positive contribution that helps people or the planet.
Some people may simply aim to translate this principle into action in their lives or work. They may then also aim to keep developing and improving the way they make this positive contribution.
Some people may aim to go a bit further. Bearing in mind what they can control in a situation, they may aim to do their best to achieve certain specific positive results.
Different people follow this latter approach in different ways. Some people start by exploring the following questions.
What are the real results I want to achieve? What is the picture of success? What will be the benefits of achieving these goals? What will be happening that will show I have achieved the picture of success?
What are the key strategies I can follow to give myself the greatest chances of achieving success? How can I translate these into a clear action plan? How can I get some early successes?
What are the challenges I may face on the journey? How can I prevent some of these happening? How can I manage these challenges if, despite my best efforts, some of these do happen?
People who take this approach prepare properly. Before embarking on the journey, the rehearse what they are going to do. They then aim to follow certain disciplines, find solutions to challenges and achieve the picture of success.
There are many ways to live life. One approach is for people to do things that give positive energy – providing these do not hurt other people – make a positive contribution and achieve positive results.
Let’s return to your life. Imagine that you have worked through some of these steps and aim to achieve certain goals. How can you then do your best to achieve the desired positive results?
If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on the theme of making a positive contribution. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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