Nothing is easier than criticism. This is true whether the subject matter is food, politics, the weather, or a movie. It takes no talent, no insight, is subjective, and doesn’t actually do anything valuable, productive, or helpful. Indulging this type of thinking on a routine basis can be caustic in the workplace with colleagues, clients, and supervisors. Another type of thinking is to discover and focus upon the positive elements of every situation. This is more likely to be nourishing to work colleagues, clients, and supervisors. Which type of routine thinking do you think boosts your career or tarnishes your career? One of my favorite quotes about avoiding negative thinking and complaining is by Henry Beecher, “When people ask me how I can accomplish so much more than other men, I reply that I do less than other people. They do their work three times over; once in anticipation, once in actuality, and once in rumination. I do mine in actuality alone, doing it once instead of three times.”
The whiniest complainers attempt to justify it with comments such as, “I’m just a realist,” or, “I just tell it like it is,” or tag the end of their dig at something with, “…, I’m just say’in.” I know a highly-competent woman in Chicago that has been unable to keep a job more than 2.5 years because of her negative thinking. She’s really good the first year when everything is new, but then her negative and critical thinking begin to fester. Instead of being pro-active about opportunities, her fake victim-mentality thinking prevents her from solving problems that are easily addressable and within her authority. These problems begin to chafe and then she sours on the job; either getting fired or quitting around year 2. This cycle repeats over and over, and yet, she has been unable to make the insight that she, alone, is the problem. As I write this, she was fired yet again, and this is occurring during her critical peak earning years.
No matter what your job may be, it will involve at least one of these three work categories:
- Physically performing a task
- Mentally solving problems
- Conceptually setting strategy
You may choose to scan for, focus upon, and talk about things to criticize about performing them, or you can notice the positive elements of the situation and simply get it done. You can have a negative viewpoint habit and create a toxic work environment (even if you work alone), or a positive viewpoint habit and possibly foster an uplifting work environment. There is a lot of neuroscience around thinking negatively and how it physically shuts down your brain’s neocortex to discover and make better decisions.The best way to do this is find something interesting, challenging, fun, about what you’re doing or what that will accomplish.
Both of these basic attitudes are mostly simple habits. Changing your way of thinking may be difficult, but it is not impossible with repeated practice. I had one great mentor that trained my mind. One of the things he taught me is that whenever a problem arose, he’d say, “This is good because…” And offer a potential solution (either through or around the obstacle) that would leave us better off than before. After listening to him consistently reframe problems over a few months, I found myself automatically saying it to myself and others, and it forces you to come up with better options. Our solutions did not work all the time. However, this little reframe of the issue places your focus on the path of solutions, making progress, and maintaining the momentum that leads to successful problem solving.