Changing our focus to What’s Going Well and rejecting negativity isn’t just about making us happier (though that’s a nice side-effect, too!). When we practice it regularly, it extends far beyond day-to-day joy and becomes a part of who we are. Eventually, we don’t have to work to practice it anymore. It comes to us naturally.
Even with positive attitudes, we can’t prevent every potential problem from occurring. We can only change our attitudes toward those problems when they do arise. With a What’s Going Well mindset, we face hardship with resilience and perseverance. When we’re more inclined to positivity, we’re naturally attuned to our optimism, so those inevitable troubles are less likely to cause us to fall into despair.
But what does that mean for us on a daily basis? It means those unavoidable setbacks don’t derail and distract us as much as they perhaps once did.
“A ‘What’s Going Well’ mindset isn’t just about feeling good. It’s about giving ourselves the tools to be the best possible versions of ourselves every single day, no matter what’s going on around us.”
We’ve all had those days where something relatively small but unfortunate happens, and even though it’s not something we can change or control, we lose hours to feeling sad or angry about it. Practicing What’s Going Well can help us avoid that trap, letting us recognize what we can and cannot change, and the futility of complaining about minor things.
Ultimately, by training ourselves to focus on What’s Going Well, we remain more productive and energetic in the face of frustrations, becoming stronger and more present friends, family members, and employees in the process.
So a What’s Going Well mindset isn’t just about feeling good. It’s about giving ourselves the tools to be the best possible versions of ourselves every single day, no matter what’s going on around us.