Choose to be Positive!

Have you ever heard someone referred to as a “negative person”? I heard that all my life but never really understood. Then the other day, I finally got it!

I was sitting in a room with a friend, their family, and a newborn. As we sat there the grandmother was holding the newborn. The baby, less than 24 hours old, was lifting its head. The grandmother’s comment regarding the head lifting was “Babies this age should not be able to lift their heads”. I thought it odd. Her comment could have been, “This baby is very strong at such an early age. She is already lifting her head”. As I continued to observe this woman much of what she said was done using negatives words. However her meaning was intended to be positive.

Recently I became conscious of the negative words that we all use in our language. I am working towards eliminating them from my language. Word such as “if, no, try, and not”. When I catch myself using a negative or less than positive word, I stop, sometimes in mid sentence, backup to the beginning of the thought and restructure the sentence. As an example I just spoke to a client. I started to say "“f you are successful with your networking you will earn $100,000 in the next 12 months". I changed “If” to “When”. It now becomes a much stronger, positive message.

Today when I choose to avoid dessert I say, “I might have some later. Later could be in the next few minutes or next year. I currently choose to eat dessert once per week, on Saturday, date night. When I am asked to participate in an activity that I would rather do something else I say, “Thank you. I already have time set aside for something else”. I have nearly eliminated “no” from my vocabulary.

What is the value of removing negative words from your vocabulary? First you will only be positive. When you choose to be contrary, it will still be positive. In stead of saying “I can’t do that” you will say, “I choose to do something else”. Rather than say, “I will try to be on time” you could say, “I will be on time”.

When you remove the negative from your language you will start to surround yourself with more positive people. Your intention with clients, potential clients and your team support will be more proactive. Besides being positive you will be more effective. Your attitude will shine. You will sparkle. Your energy will be through the roof. Relationships will blossom and mature. Health interactions will occur more frequently.

Identify those negative speakers in your life. Make a decision to support change, choose to change your interaction, or ignore the negative. For those you would like to continue to be in front of, you might choose to send them excerpts from this article. Encourage those that are positive speakers by telling them they are positive.

Share this concept with family and friends. Send this to those who are positive and negative speakers. Open a thoughtful debate. Solicit a response. Ask them to self evaluate where they are. Are they positive communicators or negative communicators? It is up to us all to choose to be positive or negative. The choice is yours. Which are you?

Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with realtors who want to attract the right prospects and their affinity partners who want to generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange Counties.

Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops.

His books, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, 101 Tips to Attract Prospects, 101 Tips to Generate Referrals and Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, Giving Your Clients What They WANT, So You Get What You WANT are currently available. Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, Using Your Time, Energy, and Creativity to Create Value, will be available in 2006.

Gerry has nearly 30 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together—which is why he started Integrity.

Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is an Accomplished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.

To contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information, call (888) 584-7073. You can contact Gerry by mail at 2103 Wedgewood Drive, Suite 100, Oceanside, CA 92056. Fax to (760) 439-5043; e-mail to. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com.

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