Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell is Human) wrote about the causes and effects of positive and negative thinking in human life. According to his philosophy, negative thinking greatly degrades one’s overall life, while positive thinking actually improves one’s life through having a more productive outlook on life. While some may argue that the influence of these two in human thinking makes little difference regarding human actions, the facts prove this null. In Pink’s book, he mentions the studies carried out by Marcia Losada, who is a social scientist who used mathematical models to test the affects of positive and negative thinking on a group of individuals. Her study found that when an individual has a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative thoughts in his/her lifestyle, they are at a peak in mental stability. Any lower than that, and negative thoughts begin to dilute the way in which one carries out tasks and influences them to be less socially confident. However, according to her study, when one achieves a ratio of 11:1 regarding positive to negative thoughts, positivity actually becomes too overbearing, which ultimately leads to unproductive work in itself.
So what, then, is the answer to how much positivity a human should maintain in their thoughts and feelings? The truth remains the sames that positive thinking greatly influences a more confident, happy, and content life. However, in small quantities, negative thinking has a positive influence on human flourishing. A proper balance of positive and negative thinking would be considered to be positive thinking most of the time, and negative thinking only at certain times. By incorporating some negative thinking in life, humans don’t go about with a mindset that acknowledges the areas in which they have room for improvement. By acknowledging these improvement areas in life through negative thinking, we can use positive thinking to look for solutions on how to solve those areas. Keeping a properly balanced ratio of these two schools of thought will ultimately improve your life. In my next blog, I will explain how this is an essential tool in the realm of selling.
BoweryJE22
I think the real issue for me is being aware that there needs to be that balance. It is so easy to be overly negative at times, and then just purely positive, but there needs to be that balancing act to make you preform to the best of your abilities.
Nick – well spoken, good sir. You appear to have whittled down that sweet spot of a sales attitude. Why do consumers sprinkle salt on their sweet caramel ice cream? A pinch of negativity compounds the flavor and highlights the positives.